UC-NRLF 


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THE  SAN  ANTONIO  PUBLIC 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

A  SURVEY 

CONDUCTED  BY  J.  F.  BOBB1TT 
OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 

JANUARY.  1915 


AUTHORIZED  BY  RESOLUTION  OF 

SAN  ANTONIO  SCHOOL  BOARD 

PASSED  DECEMBER  16,  1914 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  SAN  ANTONIO  SCHOOL  BOARD 

SAN  ANTONIO,  TEXAS,  MAY,  1915 


GIFT   OF 


THE  SAN  ANTONIO  PUBLIC 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

A  SURVEY 

CONDUCTED  BY  J.  F.  BOBBITT 

M 

OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 
JANUARY,  1915 


AUTHORIZED    BY   RESOLUTION    OF 

SAN  ANTONIO  SCHOOL  BOARD 

PASSED   DECEMBER  16.  1914 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  SAN  ANTONIO  SCHOOL  BOARD 

SAN  ANTONIO,  TEXAS,  MAY.  1915 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 
LIST  OF  TABLES  AND  CHAETS Ill 

CHAPTERS  AND  MAIN  DIVISIONS 
I.      PREFATORY  STATEMENT 1 

II.      THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS 7 

The  Place  of  Scholastic  Education ^ 10 

III.  EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 16 

The  Factors  of  Vocational  Efficiency 21 

Vocational  Training  in  San  Antgnio 26 

Commercial  and  Clerical  Training 28 

Training  for  Household  Occupations 34 

Education  for  Mechanical  Occupations 42 

Gardening,   Agriculture,   Etc 50 

IV.  EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 58 

V.      EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 71 

VI.      EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS 91 

VII.     ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 99 

Reading  99 

Spelling 103 

Vocabulary  and  Pronunciation 112 

Handwriting 113 

Grammar,   Language,   Composition 127 

VIII.      THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 136 

Geography  136 

History   141 

Mathematics 147 

Science 153 

Drawing  in  the  Elementary  Schools 157 

Latin  158 

Spanish 159 

German   165 

IX.      GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  AND  ADMINISTRATION 167 

Division  of  Responsibilities 168 

Educational  Science  as  it  Applies  to  San  Antonio 176 

The    Superintendent 179 

The  Assistant  Superintendent 181 

The    Building    Principal 182 

The  High  School  Principal 183 

i 


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ii 

Supervisors  of  Special  Subjects 

Teachers    - ----- • 

The  Business  Agent — . 

Superintendent  of  Buildings  and  Grounds 

Janitors  

The  Medical  Department ...189 

X.      THE  STUDENT  POPULATION 190 

The  School  Census —190 

Retardation  ...194 

Present  Grade  Distribution  of  Pupils 199 

XL      ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 201 

Amount  of  Training  of  Elementary  Teachers 201 

Experience   of  Teachers 205 

Tenure   of   Teachers... 206 

The  Training  School 207 

Appointment    of    Outside    Teachers 209 

Substitute    Teachers 210 

Training  Teachers  During  Service 211 

XII.      'iHE  HIGH  SCHOOL 212 

Cost  of  Instruction  by  Subjects 213-15 

Time  Devoted  to  Each  Subject.. 214 

Average   Size   of   Classes 216 

Average  Hours  Taught  Per  Week  Per  Teacher 216 

1      Training  of  the  Teachers — Supervision 218 

The   Library 219 

High  School  Building  Accommodations 220 

XIII.  BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 224 

Building   Plans...., 224 

Heating  and  Ventilating 234 

Lighting 236 

Cloak  Rooms  and  Wardrobes 241 

Furniture    and    Equipment 241 

The  Buildings  as  an  Educational  Influence  and  Oppor- 
tunity     . 243 

XIV.  FINANCE    246 

Cost  of  Janitor  Service ....247 

Cost  of  Supplies  for  Instruction ...248 

Cost  of  Buildings  per  Class-room ....249 

Cost  of  Operation  and  Maintenance 251 

Cost  of  High  Schools ....252 

Cost  of  Elementary  Education 253 

Property  Tax  Per  Capita  for  All  Purposes 254 

Total  City  Debt  Per  Capita ...256 


TABLES  AND  CHARTS 

PUPILS 

~NTo.  Page 

1.      Ages  and  nationalities  of  children  as  shown  by  last  school  census     7 

7.  Age-progress  situation  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio -• 195 

8.  Progress  through  the  grades — relative  standing  of  the  respective 

elementary  schools  of  San  Antonio 197 

9.  Present  grade  distribution  of  pnpils  in  San  Antonio... 200 

1.  Spelling—  ability  by  grades  in  San  Antonio  as  compared  with 

about  no  Illinois  cities 105 

2.  Handwriting — average  quality  of  in  33  American  cities 11.5 

4.  Handwriting—  anality  of  in  San  Antonio  as  compared  with  32 

American  cities H9 

6.  Hand  writing — quality  of  in  different  ward  schools  of  San  An- 

tonio   (relative  standing) 121 

3.  Handwriting — speed  of  in  33  American  cities 117 

5.  Handwriting — speed    of   in    San    Antonio   as    compared  with   33 

American  cities.. 119 

7.  Handwriting — speed  of  in  the  various  buildings  in  San  Antonio 

(relative  rank) 123 

10.      Retardation — relative  standing  of  the  respective  schools  in  San 

Antonio - 198 

Costs  per  pupil,  etc.     (See  financial.) 

TEACHERS 

10.  Training  of — Snn   Antonio  as  compared  with  22  smaller  cities. ...202 

11.  Training  of — relative  standing  of  the  respective  schools  in  San 

Antonio - 204 

12.  Experience  of — San  Antonio  as  compared  with  27  cities ...205 

13.  Tenure  of— San  Antonio  as  compared  with  other  cities 206 

14.  Salaries  of — San  Antonio  as  compared  with  other  cities. 207 

High  school  teachers.     (See  high  school.) 

HIGH  SCHOOL 

21.      Cost  of  high  school  education — San  Antonio  as  compared  with 

certain  cities - 252 

A.  Cost   of   instruction — the   portion    of   each   $1000   expended   for 

each    subject 213 

C.  Cost  of  instruction — cost  per  1000  student-hours  for  each,  sub- 

ject taught ,-215 

B.  Time  allowed  per   subject — distribution    of   each   1000   student- 

hours  over  the  various  subjects 214 

D.  Average  size  of  classes  and  average  teaching  time  for  each  full- 

time  teacher 216 

E.  Training    of    teachers — San    Antonio    as    compared    with    other 

cities 218 

iii 


iv 
FINANCIAL 

5.  Expenditures — per  capita  for  street  maintenance 62 

6.  Expenditures — per  pupil  for  promotion  of  health 87 

18.  Expenditures — per  pupil  for  supplies  for  instruction 248 

20.  Expenditures — per  pupil  for  elementary  education.. .....251 

22.  Expenditures — per  pupil  for  elementary  education  in  other  cities  253 

21.  Expenditures — per  pupil  for  high  school  education 252 

17.  Expenditures — for  janitors  per  school  room 247 

19.  Valuation  of  buildings  per  class-room 250 

23.  Total  property  tax  per  capita,  all  purposes,  Southern  cities 254 

24.  Total  property  tax  per  capita,  all  purposes,  cities  of  same  popula- 

tion class  as  San  Antonio 255 

25.  Total  city  debt  per  capita,  compared  with  other  cities 256 

A.  Cost  of  high  school  by  subjects  taught 213 

B.  Cosl;  of  high  school  by  student-hours 215 

GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  AND  ADMINISTRATION 

8.  Distribution  of  responsibility  among  the  various  authorities 168 

9.  Educational  science  as  it  applies  to  San  Antonio 176 

THE  COMMUNITY 

1.  The  scholastic  population — showing  ages  and  nationalities 7 

2.  Vocational  distribution  of  each  1000  men  employed  in  gainful 

occupations  in  San 'Antonio 17 

3.  Number  of  males  per  1000  employed  in  each  important  vocational 

field  in  San  Antonio,  and  in  Texas  cities  in  general 19 

4.  Number  of  women  employed  in  certain  gainful  occupations  per 

1000  employed , 21 

5.  Annual  per  capita  expenditures  for  street  maintenance 62 

15.  Mean  hourly  temperature  in  San  Antonio,  for  each  month 226 

16.  Number  of  January  days  at  each  level  of  mean  daily  tempera- 

ture   227 

17.  Mean  hourly  wind  velocity  in  San  Antonio 228 


PREFATORY  STATEMENT 


Chapter  I. 

PREFATORY   STATEMENT. 

School  surveys  are  of  different  types.  They  vary  with  the 
purpose  in  view.  The  most  helpful  kind  probably  is  one:  (1) 
that  sympathetically  looks  to  the  good  that  exists  in  the  school 
system;  (2)  that  sees  this  good  not  as  the  end  of  progress,  but 
as  gains  made  that  are  steps  toward  further  gains ;  (3)  that 
suggests  constructive  plans  for  further  progress ;  and  (4)  that 
shows  the  reasons  for  the  plans  recommended  so  as  to  permit 
verification  of  their  validity. 

In  public-spirited  communities  everywhere — and  only  a 
little  observation  is  required  to  show  that  this  includes  San 
Antonio — education  is  at  present  undergoing  rapid  changes. 
Schools  are  reaching  more  people,  are  affecting  them  for  a  longer 
period,  are  called  upon  to  do  more  things  than  formerly,  are  try- 
ing to  adapt  the  school-work  to  the  real  needs  of  men,  and  are 
searching  out  more  effective  means  and  methods.  Both  lay- 
men and  schoolmen  are  somewhat  bewildered  at  present  at  the 
multitude  of  proposals  being  made,  and  of  new  educational 
movements  inaugurated.  There  seem  to  be  so  many  diverse 
purposes  and  so  many  cross  currents  that  it  is  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  know  in  just  what  direction  our  educational  craft  is  being 
steered,  or  in  what  direction  it  ought  to  be  steered.  It  is  prob- 
able, however,  that  the  changes  now  taking  place  are  only  in 
their  beginnings ;  and  that  they  will  be  pretty  far-reaching  before 
stability  is  attained  again. 

In  such  a  time  of  change  and  transition,  cities  are  very 
frequently  nowadays  calling  in  the  help  of  what  we  may  call 
the  consulting  educational  specialist.  He  is  called  in  just  as  a 
physician  calls  in  the  consulting  physician ;  or  a  construction 
manager,  the  consulting  engineer.  In  one  sense  he  is  an  out- 
sider, and  his  ability  to  advise  is  largely  dependent  upon  this 
very  fact,  since  he  comes  with  fresh  vision  and  unprejudiced 
mind.  In  another  sense  he  is  not  an  outsider,  since  he  is  for  the 
time  being  as  much  an  employe  of  the  Board  as  is  the  superin- 


CHAPTER  I 


tendent  or  the  business  agent.  Simply,  he  is  a  temporary  em- 
ployee. This,  I  suspect,  is  the  justification  for  my  temporary 
employment  in  San  Antonio. 

Upon  my  arrival  in  the  city,  I  inquired  of  the  Chairman  of 
the   Survey  Committee  as  to  the  purpose  of  the   survey, 
replied  that  the  one  thing  desired  was  an  increase  in  the  effici- 
ency of  the  school  system ;  that  I  was  to  study  the  situation  11 
my  own  way  and   to  make  any   recommendations  that   in  my 
judgment  would  promote  the  efficiency  of  the  schools.    Beyond 
this  no  instructions  were  given  nor  suggestions  made, 
given  a  perfectly  free  hand  to  conduct  the  work  as  I  saw  \ 
I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  way  this  absolute  free- 
dom was  combined  with  a  universal  courtesy  and  willing  help- 
fulness on  the  part  of  every  one  in  any  way  concerned  in  the 
work.     In  every  contact  with  school  board,,  survey  committee, 
superintendent,  business  agent,  superintendent  of  buildings  and 
grounds,  office  staff,  principals,  teachers,  janitors,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  general  community,  there  was  invariably  that 
courtesy  and  hospitality  for  which  the   South  is  renowned- 
certainly   justly    so    if   San   Antonio    is    representative   in   this 

respect. 

(  The  report  is  based  upon  personal  observations  and  con- 
ferences covering  four  weeks,  and  upon  facts  derived  from 
numerous  documents.)  Nineteen  out  of  the  twenty-nine  ele- 
mentary schools  of  the  city  were  visited  while  classes  were  in 
session,  a  half  day  at  a  building  being  the  usual  length  of  visit. 
Several  other  elementary  buildings  were  visited  during  the  vaca- 
tion week  when  the  schools  were  not  in  session.  An  aggregate 
of  more  than  two  full  days  was  spent  at  the  Main  Avenue  High 
School ;  about  one  and  a  third  days  at  the  Brackenridge  High 
School ;  and  about  one-half  day  at  Douglass  High  School. 

It  is  felt  that  the  amount  of  visiting  done  in  the  elementary 
schools  was  sufficient  for  a  fair  understanding  of  the  general 
nature  of  the  elementary  work  in  the  city.  There  is  a  rather 
fully  detailed  course  of  study  which  prevails  with  certain  modi- 
fications in  all  of  the  elementary  schools.  This  course,  although 
it  is  continually  being  modified,  is  in  its  main  outlines  a  thing 


PREFATORY  STATEMENT 


of  several  years  standing.  This  has  brought  about  a  large  degree 
of  uniformity  in  the  work  of  the  various  buildings.  Moreover, 
the  grade-leader  institution  which  provides  that  one  of  the  build- 
ing principals  shall  be  responsible  for  the  teaching  of  a  given 
subject  in  certain  of  the  grades  throughout  the  city  further  re- 
sults in  a  fairly  large  uniformitization  of  the  work.  Then  there 
is  the  uniform  textbook  series.  With  so  many  things  making 
for  uniformity,  it  is  felt  that  a  visit  to  nineteen  of  the  buildings 
was  sufficient  for  showing  the  nature  of  the  elementary  work 
done  throughout  the  city.  Visits  were  so  distributed  as  to  reach 
schools  of  the  various  races  and  nationalities. 

Before  entering  upon  findings  and  recommendations,  I  wish 
to  anticipate  two  or  three  objections  that  are  sure  to  arise  upon 
the  reading  of  my  report.  fOne  is  that  things  are  often  recom- 
mended which  are  clearly  impossible./  It  is  quite  true  that  many 
things  are  recommended  that  can  not  be  accomplished  suddenly. 
A  ship  sailing  from  Galveston  for  Australia  can  not  arrive  in 
one  day,  nor  even  in  one  week;  but  because  it  can  not  arrive 
suddenly  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  set  out.  In  one  day  it 
can  be  expected  to  cover  only  one  day's  journey,  and  in  one 
week  only  one  week's  journey ;  but  it  can  rightly  steer  the  first 
or  any  successive  day's  journey  only  as  its  far-distant  destina- 
tion is  held  in  mind  by  captain  and  helmsman.  And  so  it  is  with 
educational  progress  along  most  lines.  The  journey  ahead  of 
our  profession  by  way  of  modernizing  our  labors,  making  them 
efficient,  and  making  them  serve  twentieth  century  needs  is  yet 
a  long  one.  The  various  ends  in  view  can  usually  be  attained 
only  after  many  years  of  continuous  labors  toward  those  ends. 
Next  year's  moderate  progress  can  be  rightly  accomplished,  how- 
ever, only  as  it  keeps  the  more  distant  ends  in  view.  Educational 
progress  to  be  solid  and  substantial  must  generally  be  reasonably 
slow.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  it  should  be  blind ;  nor 
even  that  it  should  be  near-sighted,  looking  only  to  those  things 
that  can  be  quickly  and  easily  reached.  There  is  nothing  in  man's 
world  that  should  be  more  far-seeing  than  education. 

Since  this  report  is  for  the  layman  of  San  Antonio  as  fully 
as  for  the  school  people,  a  second  objection  that  will  arise  is 


CHAPTER  I. 


that  the  discussion  often  is  unnecessarily  complicated  and  tech- 
nical. In  reply  let  me  say  that  it  is  writtten  from  the  simple 
point  of  view  of  community  needs.  From  beginning  to  end,  edu- 
cation is  looked  at  as  a  very  practical  common-sense  kind  of 
community  service.  The  matters  are  set  forth  as  fully  as  pos- 
sible in  common  everyday  terms.  The  trouble  is  that  the  field 
of  education  is  itself  complicated  and  difficult ;  and  any  language 
that  shows  the  field  truly  must  show  it  for  what  it  is.  To  evade 
the  complications  is  to  slight  the  work.  Naturally  a  report  can 
be  simplified  by  leaving  out  everything  that  requires  mental  ef- 
fort;  but  it  could  not  be  a  very  searching  or  effective  piece  of 
work ;  and  it  would  under-rate  the  intelligence  of  the  layman. 
f  Statements  are  sometimes  rather  fully  at  variance  with  con- 
I  ventional  or  traditional  educational  thought.  Occasionally  to 
those  of  a  pre-social  educational  point  of  view,  judgments  will 
appear  to  be  so  wide  the  mark  as  apparently  to  discredit  the 
judgment  of  the  writer.  All  that  is  asked  in  such  cases  is  that 
appeal  be  made  not  to  tradition  nor  to  special  interests  but  to 
unbiased  common  sense  on  the  one  hand;  and  on  the  other,  to 
twentieth  century  leaders  of  social  thought  and  action  in  this 
country.  Generally  in  a  city  so  large  as  San  Antonio,  the  issue 
/nvolved  wrill  be  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  such  appeal 
and  investigation.  If  my  report  can  bring  about  such  contin- 
uing investigation,  it  will  have  accomplished  its  largest  purpose. 
>  t  A  third  objection  will  be  that  there  is  too  much  educational 
interpretation  and  discussion  in  this  report.  On  the  contrary, 
in  my  opinion,  there  is  too  little.  Things  called  into  question  in 
whole  or  in  part  involve  an  annual  expenditure  on  the  part  of  the 
city  of  not  less  than  half  of  the  school  budget, — let  us  say 
$250,000;  or  a  million  dollars  every  four  years.  Our  discussion 
relates,  therefore,  to  policies  of  large  moment  both  to  taxpayers 
and  to  children  and  youth.  The  relatively  few  pages  given  to 
things  involving  such  large  expenditures  of  time  and  money  and 
effort  are  really  inadequate  for  proper  community  understand- 
ing. The  whole  discussion  of  these  momentous  questions  is 
covered  in  a  space  equivalent  to  that  of  a  single  issue  of  a  Sun- 
day newspaper,  for  the  printing  of  which  the  people  are  willing 


PREFATORY  STATEMENT 


to  pay  the  entire  bill  once  every  week.  Instead  of  this  report's 
presenting  too  much  discussion  of  these  educational  problems, 
it  really  presents  but  a  beginning  of  discussion  for  the  pur- 
pose of  precipitating  further  discussion.  Just  enough  is  said 
to  introduce  the  problems.  It  is  for  the  community  itself  to 
carry  forward  most  of  the  discussion.  The  newspapers  in  all 
probability  will  be  glad  to  aid  in  carrying  it  on  very  much 
further. 

Finally,  a  fourth  objection  to  be  made  is  that  I  have  been 
so  busy  in  looking  for  the  places  where  the  work  might  be 
tightened  up  and  made  more  efficient  that  I  have  tended  to  lose 
sight  of  the  great  amount  of  good  and  even  excellent  work  that 
h  going  on  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio.  My  method  of 
treatment  actually  lends  color  to  this  objection,  since  I  usually 
give  a  small  amount  of  space  to  pointing  out  the  gains  that  have 
been  made  and  then  a  fairly  large  amount  of  space  in  pointing 
out  further  gains  yet  to  be  accomplished.  As  we  point  to  things 
not  yet  done  and  which  need  yet  to  be  done  we  are  pointing  to 
things  which  may  be  called  shortcomings  or  defects  in  the 
school  system.  In  my  opinion  they  can  not  be  rightly  so  called. 
When  a  ship  sailing  from  Galvcston  to  Australia  does  not  reach 
its  port  in  a  week  this  can  not  be  imputed  to  the  ship  as  a  short- 
coming or  a  failure.  Likewise,  the  falling  short  of  the  desirable 
in  San  Antonio's  school  work  is  to  be  looked  upon  simply  as 
incomplete  progress ;  as  a  journey  that  is  only  half  traveled. 
After  the  ship  referred  to  has  covered  half  its  journey,  captain 
and  helmsman  can  drop  from  view  most  of  the  things  behind 
them.  What  they  must  keep  in  mind  very  fully  is  that  portion 
of  the  journey  that  is  yet  ahead  of  them.  And  so  in  discussing 
the  school-work  of  the  city.  Much  progress  has  been  made;  the 
schools  are  in  a  healthy  growing  condition;  in  many  respects 
they  are  fully  abreast  with  the  best  work  going  on  in  any  portion 
of  our  country.  The  city  will  have  to  be  numbered  among  cities 
of  the  educationally  progressive  type.  This  progress  that  has 
been  made,  however,  is  already  a  matter  of  history.  It  need  not 
bt  set  down  in  a  report  in  any  full  fashion  because  it  exists  in 
actual  concrete  form  within  the  city,  and  it  can  be  seen  by  any- 


CHAPTER  I. 


body  who  has  sufficient  interest  to  look.  The  thing-  that  the 
city  needs  to  give  its  attention  to  and  to  keep  fully  in  mind  is  not 
that  part  of  the  journey  which  is  behind  them,  but  that  portion 
of  it  which  is  ahead  of  them.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  are 
mostly  concerned  in  this  report  with  pointing  out  the  lines  of 
incomplete  growth  and  to  pointing  the  directions  along  which 
further  growth  needs  to  be  guided. 

It  is  well  to  remember  also  that  as  one  points  to  the  needs 
of  advance  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio,  one  is  usually  point- 
ing to  things  such  as  found  in  almost  every  city  in  the  country. 
Only  the  particular  mode  of  manifestation  is  peculiar  to  any 
one  city.  Neither  the  laymen  nor  the  teachers  of  San  Antonio 
need  feel  in  the  slightest  chagrined  at  having  the  defects, — or  I 
would  call  them,  the  needs  of  further  growth, — pointed  out  in 
this  report.  The  city  that  has  reached  the  point  of  searching 
self-examination  is  farther  along  the  road  of  progress  than  those 
content  to  let  things  drift  without  incurring  the  trouble  of  taking 
their  bearings. 

In  various  sections  of  this  report  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
point  out  what  appear  to  be  a  number  of  seriously  wasteful 
shortcomings,  as  we  shall  have  to  call  them  for  convenience. 
Most  of  them,  however,  can  not  be  laid  at  any  one  man's  door. 
Responsibility  in  most  cases  is  fairly  widely  distributed;  and 
present  conditions  have  grown  out  of  previous  ones  in  which  the 
responsibility  was  equally  widely  distributed.  For  this  reason  we 
have  made  no  attempt  to  locate  personal  responsibility  for  educa- 
tional deficiencies. 

In  order  that  our  examination  of  the  fundamental  aspects 
of  education  in  San  Antonio  should  not  be  lost  in  a  multitude 
of  details,  we  have  held  fairly  consistently  to  a  discussion  of 
these  main  outlines  of  the  work.  We  have  puropsely  refrained 
from  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  details  of  which  the  larger 
things  are  made  up.  If  these  latter  are  properly  taken  care  of 
then,  the  details  will  fall  into  their  places  in  perfectly  natural 
ways. 

Respectfully  submitted,        J.  F.  BOBBITT. 

University  of  Chicago,  March  27,  1915. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS 


Chapter  II. 

THE   WORK   OF   THE   SCHOOLS. 

According  to  the  last  school  census  there  were  in  San  An- 
tonio 21,983  children  of  school  age.  They  were  of  diverse  races 
and  nationalities.  The  number  of  children  of  the  different 
nationalities  is  shown  in  the  following  chart : 


Ages 

Americans 
and 
Europeans 

Mexican 

Negro 

Total 

7   years   

1,456 

1,076 

267 

2,799 

8  years  
9  years  

1,386 
1,192 

1,016 
898 

240 
234 

2,642 
2,324 

10  years 

1,207 

889 

212 

2,308 

11  years  

1,138 

838 

191 

2,161 

12  years 

1,174 

847 

182 

2,203 

13  years  

1,078 

798 

172 

2,048 

14  years 

1,116 

830 

210 

2,156 

15  years 

845 

627 

164 

1,636 

16  years 

.  ...   869 

652 

179 

1,700 

Total  11,461  8,471  2,051  21,983 

To  these  we  must  really  add  the  number  17  and  18  years  of 
age,  now  that  the  high  school  training, — full  time  or  part  time — 
is  coming  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  necessity.  And  as  kindergartens 
are  introduced  those  6  years  of  age  are  being  included  among 
the  number  for  which  the  city  admits  educational  responsibility. 
The  number  of  children  needing  education  is  therefore  consider- 
ably larger  than  shown  by  the  census, — probably  above  25,000. 

Now  what  should  be  done  by  the  schools  of  San  Antonio, 
public  and  private,  for  these  25,000  children?  What  are  the  re- 
sults to  be  achieved  that  are  deemed  so  important  that  the  people 
of  the  city  are  willing  to  spend  $500,000  a  year  upon  the  public 
schools,  and  another  quite  large  amount  upon  the  parochial  and 
private  schools?  It  may  at  first  seem  unnecessary  to  raise  such 
a  question.  In  the  minds  of  many,  the  schools  have  long  known 


8 CHAPTER  II. 

what  to  do ;  the  central  problem  is  merely  one  of  getting  it  done 
efficiently. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  in  San  Antonio  nor  in  any  city 
have  the  purposes  of  education  been  clearly  defined.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  weaknesses  in  any  system  trace  back  directly  or  in- 
directly to  this  vagueness  of  purpose.  Communities  generously 
provide  funds  for  the  work,  but  nowhere  have  definite  plans  and 
specifications  been  drawn  up  that  fully  and  completely  define  the 
results  that  are  to  be  achieved  by  the  public  schools,  in  terms  of 
what  the  community  needs.  If  a  man  should  set  aside  $500,000 
for  constructing  a  building,  and  then  furnish  no  definite  plans 
or  specifications  as  to  the  particular  things  to  be  done,  there  is 
small  probability  that  he  would  get  what  he  needed.  There  is 
large  probability  that  much  of  the  work  would  be  badly  adapted 
to  his  purposes ;  that  it  would  be  of  inferior  quality ;  and  that 
there  would  be  a  large  waste  of  money.  If  he  built  a  new 
$500,000  building  each  year  in  this  same  unspecified  manner, 
the  losses  would  be  cumulative. 

It  is  just  as  necessary  in  carrying  forward  the  labors  of  a 
school  system  to  know  what  things  need  to  be  done  and  what 
things  need  not  to  be  done.  Unless  the  clearly  needful  things 
are  definitely  set  down  for  the  work  of  the  schools,  there  is 
extremely  small  probability  that  an  annual  expenditure  of  $500,- 
000  of  the  people's  money  will  secure  a  maximum  of  what  might 
be  obtained  for  that  money;  or  anything  near  it.  The  waste  is 
likely  to  be  just  as  large  as  in  the  case  of  the  building  referred 
to.  Where  educational  purposes  are  not  clearly  defined  in 
terms  of  community  needs,  a  city  is  indeed  fortunate  if  the 
annual  waste  is  not  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  amount  expended, 
or  in  this  case  $100,000.  And  the  losses  are  cumulative.  And 
the  losses  to  the  children  are  far  greater  than  this  mere  financial 
loss. 

Let  us  here  enumerate  some  of  the  educational  needs  of 
San  Antonio  wh'rh  probably  can  not  be  called  into  question  by 
any  thoughtful  indvidual ;  and  then  in  succeeding  chapters  dis- 
cuss the  situation  with  reference  to  these  matters  in  somewhat 
greater  detail. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS 


The  community  money  is  spent  and  the  sacrifices  made  for 
the  purpose  of  fitting  the  25,000  children  for  effective  perform- 
ance of  their  adult  activities.  A  fully  rounded  educational  pro- 
gram should  therefore  be  designed : 

(1)  To  fit  the  children  and  youth  for  effective  performance 
of  the  labors  of  their  life's  callings. 

(2)  To  lay  a  broad  and  secure  foundation  for  sound  judg- 
ment as  to  the  various  social,  economic,  and  industrial  problems 
with  which  one  is  concerned  as  a  citizen  in  a  democracy. 

(3)  To  lay  a  secure  foundation  in  knowledge  and  in  habits 
for  life-long  health  and  physical  vitality. 

(4)  To  develop  habits  of  healthy  and  socially  desirable 
leisure  occupations. 

(5)  To  give  effective  training  in  the  means  needed  for 
social  intercommunication ;  namely  the  language  or  the  languages 
that  one  actually  needs. 

(6)  To  train  individuals  for  the  activities  concerned  in  the 
rearing  and  education  of  children ;  or  in  other  words,  the  func- 
tions of  parenthood. 

(7)  To  train  one  for  his  religious  activities. 

Except  as  education  seeks  to  make  one  more  effective  in 
performing  his  activities  in  one  or  another  of  these  various  fields, 
there  can  be  no  sound  reason  for  expending  the  people's  money 
for  its  support. 

Whatever  is  done  in  school  must  be  seen  definitely  to  further 
one  or  another  of  these  seven  purposes. 

Whatever  can  not  be  seen  to  further  some  one  of  these  pur- 
poses has  no  place  in  the  schools.  It  should  not  be  permitted  to 
live  parasitic  upon  the  funds  provided  by  the  community. 

Whatever  is  now  left  out  of  the  course  of  study  which  is 
needed  for  promoting  effective  training  in  any  one  of  these 
seven  fields  should  be  included  at  the  proper  age  and  under  the 
proper  circumstances. 

Naturally  in  our  public  schools  for  well-known  reasons  the 
trair  mg  for  religious  activities  can  not  be  included  under  present 
conditions  Until  the  elements  of  the  community  can  agree 


10  CHAPTER  II. 

among  themselves,  naturally  they  will  have  to  find  some  other 
means  of  taking  care  of  this  training.  That  it  must  be  left  out 
of  public  education  is  the  fault  of  this  sectarianism  and  not  of 
the  schools. 

In  discussing  the  work  of  the  public  schools  in  San  Antonio, 
we  shall  assume  that  unless  a  thing  done  can  be  justified  on  one 
ol  the  six  bases  enumerated,  it  has  no  business  there.  We  shall 
have  occasion  to  point  to  a  number  of  things  that  should  be  re- 
duced in  amount  or  dropped  altogether.  We  shall  also  have 
to  point  out  many  additional  things  that  ought  to  be  included  in 
the  course  of  study  since  they  are  needs  for  the  effective  train- 
ing for  activities  in  one  or  another  of  these  six  fields. 

The  old  educational  doctrine  that  there  must  be  studies  for 
strengthening  the  mind  contains  nowadays  as  much  truth  as  it 
ever  did.  But  with  the  growing  complexities  of  modern  life  and 
with  the  enormous  amount  of  real  knowledge  and  real  training 
for  sound  judgment  in  the  six  fields  of  practical  affairs  enumer- 
ated, we  are  coming  to  see  that  in  getting  the  necessary  knowledge 
and  judgment  in  these  fields,  we  have  nowadays  enough  mental 
work  for  all  of  the  necessary  strengthening  of  the  mind, — and 
even  some  to  spare.  So  much  useful  knowledge  is  now  needed 
that  there  is  no  longer  any  necessity  of  including  ancient,  musty, 
useless  studies  merely  for  the  intellectual  gymnastics  that  they 
provide.  They  are  no  more  needed  than  are  dumb-bells  by  a 
blacksmith,  or  back  exercises  by  a  coal-heaver. 

THE  PLACE  OF  SCHOLASTIC  EDUCATION. 

The  most  substantial  and  fundamental  portions  of  one's 
education  are  obtained  out  of  school.  As  one  looks  at  the  fields 
of  human  vocation,  of  civic  activity,  of  caring  for  one's  health, 
one's  recreations,  etc.,  it  is  quite  clear  that  it  is  through  observa- 
tion and  participation  on  the  part  of  children  and  youth  in  the 
real  activities  as  found  in  home,  shop,  store,  club,  church,  street, 
etc.,  that  one  gets  the  foundation  of  all  of  his  training  in  each  of 
the  several  fields  enumerated.  Not  only  does  he  get  his  basic 
training  through  such  actual  participation,  but  it  is  in  fact  the 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  11 

only  way  in  which  it  can  be  had.  Only  through  the  real  ex- 
periences of  life  can  one  come  to  know  the  nature  of  the  realities 
of  life.  This  must  be  clearly  realized  before  one  can  understand 
the  place  of  scholastic  education. 

The  educational  work  of  the  schools  is  only  supplementary. 
It  can  not  be  rightly  judged  except  as  it  is  seen  to  be  merely 
supplementary.  The  schools  add  to  the  knowledge  obtained  in 
one's  social  contacts.  They  round  out  this  knowledge;  they 
complete  it ;  they  correct  the  errors. 

As  living  conditions  nowadays  grow  more  artificial  and 
complicated,  the  amount  of  knowledge  required  is  greatly  in- 
creased. Much  of  this  knowledge  does  not  lie  clearly  upon  the 
surface  of  affairs,  is  not  generally  diffused  through  the  adult 
community,  and  cannot  be  got  through  social  contacts,  observa- 
tion, and  participation.  The  supplementary  training  by  the 
schools  grows  more  and  more  necessary,  and  greater  in  amount. 
It  cannot  be  genuine  or  useful,  however,  except  as  it  is  supple- 
mentary to  the  fundamental  training  of  the  world  itself,  and 
fitted  to  the  latter  as  exactly  as  a  house  is  fitted  to  its  founda- 
tion ;  or  a  tree  to  the  roots  out  of  which  it  grows. 

Two  complications  of  this  simple  relation  need  to  be  men- 
tioned. In  the  first  place,  certain  fundamental  activities  of  the 
community  are  nowadays  being  transferred  in  part  to  the  school 
itself,  and  carried  on  under  its  direction  in  order  that  the  supple- 
mentary training  may  be  intimately  related  to  the  fundamental 
portion.  Garment-making,  embroidery,  cooking,  canning,  laun- 
dry work,  the  making  of  furniture,  the  construction  of  sidewalks, 
fences,  buildings,  etc.,  are  actual  vocational  activities  which  are 
in  some  part  being  transferred  to  the  school  premises  and  done 
under  the  direction  of  the  teachers.  There  is  no  intention  of 
making  the  school  a  vocational  institution  in  itself.  These  por- 
tions of  community  labor  are  transferred  merely  for  administra- 
tive convenience  in  order  to  bring  the  foundation  close  to  the 
educational  superstructure  which  the  schools  are  commissioned 
to  build.  Because  of  the  necessity  of  having  such  foundation 
close  at  hand  it  is  probable,  even  certain,  that  a  much  larger  por- 
tion of  practical,  vocational  production  will  in  time  be  accom- 


12 CHAPTER  II. 

plished  under  educational  direction  for  training  purposes.  Many 
such  activities  have  to  be  transferred  to  and  developed  at  the 
schools  nowadays  in  order  that  children  and  youth  may  even 
have  access  to  the  fundamental  activities.  So  specialized  is  in- 
dustry becoming,  so  shut  up  within  high  walls  with  "No  Admit- 
tance" posted  on  every  door  that  the  fundamental  contacts  with 
industry,  once  so  easy  for  childhood,  are  being  withdrawn.  The 
school  has  to  make  good  the  deficiency.  As  fundamental  con- 
tacts are  narrowed  outside,  the  scholastic  supplementary  must 
be  correspondingly  widened  inside. 

There  are  many  fundamental  matters  of  a  type  that  cannnot 
be  transferred  bodily  to  the  schools,  as  for  example  factory  work, 
mercantile  work,  specialized  work  in  printing,  house-cleaning, 
much  of  cooking,  etc.  For  these,  our  progressive  cities  are  com- 
ing to  establish  what  is  called  part-time  work  so  that  the  students 
may  go  out  to  the  fundamental  labors  under  the  direction  or  at 
least  advice  of  the  teacher,  and  in  this  way  lay  the  proper  founda- 
tion and  keep  the  proper  intimacy  between  fundamental  aspects 
of  the  training  and  the  scholastic,  supplementary  aspects.  There 
13  also  coming  to  be  devolped  the  plan  of  giving  credit  for  many 
kinds  of  home-work, — a  growing  recognition  that  there  is  and 
should  be  a  connection  between  foundation  and  superstructure. 

There  is  a  second  complication  entering  in,  which  is  very 
much  more  difficult  to  explain.  An  understanding  of  it  is  in- 
dispensable, however,  before  one  can  begin  to  discuss  the  effici- 
ency or  inefficiency  of  the  school-work  in  San  Antonio,  or  in 
any  other  city.  The  conception  is  simple  after  one  gets  it. 
Perhaps  it  can  best  be  made  clear  by  means  of  an  illustration, — 
even  if  a  somewhat  extended  one.  Take,  for  example,  the  case 
of  a  civil  engineer  who  is  called  upon  to  draw  up  plans  for 
straightening,  grading,  and  paving  the  crooked,  irregular  streets 
of  a  town  in  which  he  grew  up  as  a  boy.  Such  a  man  without 
touching  his  surveying  instruments  has  already  in  mind  the  basic 
knowledge  needed  for  his  work.  As  a  boy  at  play,  roaming  the 
streets  on  a  boy's  multifarious  activities,  he  came  to  know  every 
curve,  street  and  alley,  every  angle,  offset,  hillock,  depression, 
elevation,  creek-bank,  creek-winding,  etc.  At  the  time  that  he 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS 13 

learned  these  things,  he  learned  them  for  no  conscious  or  serious 
purpose ;  simply,  he  was  a  boy  at  play,  conscious  of  nothing  more 
than  the  immediate  activities  of  the  moment,  following  his  in- 
terests and  his  pleasures,  and  looking  forward  to  no  serious  ap- 
plication of  his  knowledge.  Yet  out  of  this  relatively  aimless  ex- 
perience came  his  very  thorough  and  secure  knowledge  of  every 
geographical  matter  within  the  town.  Had  the  knowledge  been 
systematically  gone  after,  with  all  the  aimless  play  element  left 
out,  it  could  not  have  been  anything  like  so  well  done. 

When  the  engineer  so  brought  up  comes  to  the  work  of 
surveying  the  city,  his  activities  take  on  an  entirely  different 
character.  His  surveying  is  for  the  purpose  of  getting  facts. 
But  the  purpose  is  wholly  conscious.  His  facts  now  must  be 
complete,  exact,  and  systematized.  He  must  be  careful,  intensive, 
thorough.  Everything  must  be  carefully  controlled  for  practical 
ends.  Yet  after  all,  his  work  on  this  level  involves  but  a  refining, 
completing,  and  ordering  of  the  knowledge  got  as  a  boy  at  play. 

For  purposes  of  our  discussion  we  shall  call  his  first  type 
of  learning  the  Preliminary ;  and  the  later  type,  the  Practical, 
or  the  Functional. 

This  illustration  shows  two  kinds  of  learning,  both  of  which 
are  absolutely  indispensable  for  all  our  education.  On  the  one 
hand,  with  only  the  play  motive,  following  only  the  lines  of  in- 
terest, should  children  and  youth,  it  appears,  become  acquainted 
with  the  general  outlines  of  every  important  field  of  human 
knowledge  and  experience.  Simply  by  wandering  through  the 
fields  of  knowledge  without  any  particular  consciousness  of  the 
serious  values  or  purposes  of  the  learning,  they  lay  the  wide  and 
secure  foundation  for  the  exact  studies  that  must  necessarily 
come  later.  They  read  their  history,  for  example,  for  the  sake 
of  .their  interest  in  the  human  story,  the  anecdotes,  the  biog- 
raphies, the  adventures,  the  struggles  and  conflicts,  etc.,  etc. ;  and 
all  without  any  consciousness  that  they  are  laying  the  founda- 
tions for  later  civic  knowledge  and  judgment.  In  their  geograpi- 
cal  readings,  they  imbibe  the  gossip  of  how  people  live  in  other 
lands  and  climes,  or  they  follow  geographically  the  campaigns 
of  the  present  armies  and  navies  in  Europe,  without  any  thought 


14 CHAPTER  III 

of  the  fact  that  they  are  laying  a  geographical  foundation  later 
to  be  used  for  an  understanding  of  industrial  and  commercial 
relations.  All  such  preliminary  studies,  like  children's  play,  need 
to  be  rich  in  detail,  full  of  human  color,  infinitely  varied, 
touched  lightly  and  then  left  behind,  taken  up  as  prompted 
by  interest  not  by  logic,  superficial,  omnivorous,  repititious, 
and  loosely  organized.  For  such  are  the  ways  of  childhood ;  and 
even  of  youth  and  adulthood  in  the  hours  of  one's  freedom. 

To  say  that  the  preliminary  portions  of  serious  education 
are  to  be  on  the  order  of  play  no  longer  shocks  the  proprieties 
as  it  once  did.  Nowadays  we  better  understand  the  serious 
values  of  play ;  and  we  recognize  the  value  of  harnessing  up  the 
play-motive  when  we  wish  strenuous  exertion.  It  does  not  mean 
a  lack  of  effort.  It  means  an  intensification  of  effort.  It  is 
the  boy  who  wants  to  win  in  the  spelling  match  who  will  man- 
fully master  the  entire  spelling  book  as  a  part  of  the  game.  It  is 
the  boy  who  wishes  to  surpass  his  mates  in  arithmetic,  who  takes 
it  as  a  game,  who  will  come  nearest  to  mastering  every  difficulty. 
That  which  one  enjoys  is  the  thing  at  which  one  will  work  the 
hardest.  Given  a  healthy  play-motive  and  the  right  opportunities, 
and  it  is  like  having  a  high-power  engine  and  a  straight  track 
ahead. 

Education  must  not  stop  on  this  level,  however.  This  is 
only  preliminary  to  higher  educational  levels  of  a  clearly  practi- 
cal functional  character.  Unless  this  higher  level  is  reached 
and  covered,  half  of  education  is  not  accomplished.  After  one 
has  acquired  preliminary  familiarity  with  the  field  of  history, 
for  example,  one  is  ready  for  taking  up  such  civic  questions  as 
railroad  regulation,  or  conservation  of  our  natural  resources, 
or  control  of  public  utilities,  or  any  other  of  our  thousand  civic 
problems,  and  study  their  historical  background  by  way  of 
discovering  their  nature.  No  longer  will  he  spontaneously  fol- 
low the  lines  of  interest.  His  studies  must  be  held  strictly  to 
the  topic  in  hand  by  the  serious  purposes  involved.  He  is  getting 
practical  information  to  be  used  for  judgment  upon  questions 
daily  presented  to  the  citizen  in  a  democracy.  Studies  on  this 
level  must  be  careful,  systematic,  exact,  thorough,  and  fairly 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS 15 

complete.  Serious  practical  motives  now  entirely  replace  the 
play-motive.  It  should  still  be  so  done  as  to  be  enjoyable ;  but 
the  question  of  its  enjoyableness  is  not  now  the  primary  one. 
It  is  to  be  done  because  one  knows  the  information  is  needed, 
whether  one  likes  it  or  not. 

Now  let  me  indicate  in  a  few  words  why  I  have  given  so 
much  space  to  sketching  the  meaning  of  education  of  Funda- 
mental and  Supplementary,  Preliminary  and  Functional : 

1.  The  supplementary  relation  of  school  work  to  community 
life  in  San  Antonio  is  not  greatly  taken  into  account  in  drawing 
up  the  courses  of  study.     As  a  result  .there  is  a  considerable 
quantity  of  useless  and  wasteful  work.    Even  when  the  material 
is  of  a  kind  needed,  the  failure  to  build  it  into  the  pupil's  funda- 
mental experiences,  brings  much  of  the  teaching  to  naught.     It 
is  feebly  learned,  loosely  held  in  mind,  and  quickly  forgotten. 
Also,  much  needed  teaching  is  left  out  because  of  the  work's  not 
growing  naturally  out  of  fundamental  realities. 

2.  Except  for  the  teaching  work  of  shop,   sewing-room, 
kitchen,  and  commercial  department,  practically  all  the  work  of 
both  elementary  and  high   schools  is  of  the  preliminary  pre- 
functional  type.    The  purpose  is  to  give  pupils  over-views  of  the 
general  content  of  history,  geography,  grammar,  physics,  etc. 
This  is  very  necessary,  certainly,  as  part  of  the  work ;  but  the 
functional  half  to  which  this  should  lead  is  mostly  omitted.    The 
preliminary,  too,  is  over-systematized,  over-abstract,  too  technical, 
the  work  too  slow     /id  intensive  for  this  stage  of  progress.     In 
other  words,  there  is  too  much  time  given  to  work  of  the  pre- 
liminary level,  and  much  of  it  is  done  in  a  manner  unsuitable  tc 
this  level,  and  the  larger  portion  of  the  functional  training  lost 
sight  01. 

Where  inefficiency  is  found  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio, 
it  can  usually  be  traced  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  errors. 


16 CHAPTER  III. 

Chapter  III. 

EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION. 

Most  of  the  22,000  children  of  school  age  in  San  Antonio 
will  in  time  be  obliged  to  earn  their  living.  The  school  should 
therefore  deal  with  every  pupil  on  the  theory  that  he  will  be 
obliged  to  earn  his  living.  Since  one's  work  is  as  important  as 
any  other  function  that  one  will  ever  perform,  if  public  money  is 
to  be  expended  for  education  at  all,  this  should  doubtless  have 
a  share  proportionate  to  its  value.  A  city  should  expect  full 
returns  for  this  investment  through  the  increased  productiveness 
of  labor  efficiency. 

We  cannot  know  what  vocation  any  given  child  will  follow ; 
but  we  do  know  that  the  labors  which  are  done  today  must 
be  done  tomorrow.  The  vocational  distribution  of  the  present 
adult  population  shows  the  approximate  distribution  of  the  popu- 
lation ten  or  twenty  years  hence,  when  the  pupils  now  in  school 
shall  have  taken  up  their  adult  responsibilities.  However  much 
parents  may  wish  their  sons  to  take  professional  or  managerial 
courses,  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  can  be  no  greater  proportion 
of  lawyers,  doctors,  journalists,  or  engineers,  in  the  next  gene- 
ration than  there  are  in  this.  There  must  in  fact  be  just  as  great 
a  proportion  as  now  of  plumbers,  carpenters,  mechanics,  mer- 
cantile employees,  railroad  men,  factory  operatives,  etc.  While 
it  is  the  school's  duty  to  help  those  who  are  to  enter  professional 
and  managerial  callings  as  fully  as  possible,  it  is  none  the  less 
the  duty  of  the  school  to  provide  equally  for  effective  training 
for  those  who  enter  every  other  useful  calling.  Since  compara- 
tively few  students  will  ever  enter  the  professions,  the  chief 
vocational  responsibility  of  the  schools  lies  in  helping  those 
who  are  to  enter  agriculture,  manufacture,  mechanical  trades, 
commerce,  transportation,  public  service,  mining  and  clerical 
occupations. 

The  vocational  distribution  of  the  men  in  San  Antonio 
ai,  shown  by  the  occupational  census  of  1910  is  shown  in  Table 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 17 

II.  The  figures  denote  the  number  of  men  per  thousand  who 
were  gainfully  employed  in  each  of  the  various  occupations  listed 
in  the  schedule. 

Table  II. 

Vocational  Distribution  of  Each  1000  Men  Employed  in  Gainful 
Occupations  in     San  Antonio. 

San  Average  of 

Antonio  Cities 


Manufacturing  and  Mechanical   Industry  336  4£3 

Trade 226  175- 

Transportation   129  1 19 

Domestic   and   Personal   Service   120  69 

Clerical  Occupations  69  82 

Professional  Service 56  43 

Agriculture,  Gardening  32  10 

Public    Service   28  23 

Extraction  of  Minerals  ...                                           4  6 


Total  1000  1000 

If  all  of  the  new  generation  remains  in  San  Antonio  the  boys 
now  growing  up  would  have  to  distribute  themselves  among 
the  various  occupational  groups  about  as  shown  by  the  figures. 
Some  of  these  groups  will  probably  grow  in  the  relative  num- 
bers of  workers,  while  others  may  decline  somewhat.  On  the 
whole/however,  the  figures  of  today  show  about  what  conditions 
must  be  twenty  years  hence  when  the  present  generation  of  boys 
shall  have  taken  their  place  in  the  world  of  adult  affairs.  If  all 
of  the  boys  remain  in  San  Antonio  the  list  shows  the  things  in 
which  vocational  education  is  most  needed.  The  second  and 
third  columns  show  that  whether  they  go  to  other  cities  or  re- 
main, about  the  same  things  are  needed.  The  table  does  not  con- 
sider the  case  of  those  who  go  to  the  farm.  Doubtless  in  a 
country  where  agriculture  is  and  probably  will  be  the  chief  in- 
dustry, many  of  the  boys  will  go  to  the  farms.  This  should  be 
studied,  but  at  present  we  have  no  figures  bearing  upon  the 
matter. 


18 CHAPTER  II. 

Whether  a  young  man  growing  up  in  San  Antonio  remains 
in  the  city  or  goes  to  another  city  the  chances  are  about  34  in 
a  hundred  that  he  will  enter  some  manufacturing  or  mechanical 
pursuit;  about  20  in  a  hundred  that  he  will  enter  trade;  about 
12  in  a  hundred  that  he  will  be  engaged  in  the  transportation 
of  persons  or  commodities ;  about  10  in  a  hundred  that  he  will 
perform  domestic  or  personal  service;  about  7  chances  in  a 
hundred  that  he  will  do  clerical  work ;  about  6  chances  that  he 
will  enter  one  of  the  professions ;  3  chances  that  he  will  re- 
side in  the  city  and  carry  on  agriculture  or  gardening  work; 
and  about  3  chances  in  a  hundred  that  he  will  be  engaged  in 
public  service. 

The  figures  can  be  made  still  more  concrete.  The  num- 
ber of  boys  leaving  public  schools  each  year  at  all  levels  is  at 
the  present  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  1000.  Of  these  1000 
San  Antonio  boys  leaving  each  year,  about  80  will  become  sales- 
men or  helpers  in  stores ;  about  70  will  become  wholesale  or 
retail  dealers ;  50  or  60  will  become  teamsters  or  deliverymen ; 
60  others  will  work  on  the  street  and  steam  railroads ;  another 
60  still  will  engage  in  carpentry,  cabinet-making,  and  other  wood- 
working industries ;  about  35  will  become  agents  of  one  kind  or 
another ;  30  or  35  will  enter  industries  involving  work  with  iron 
and  steel;  25  or  30  will  carry  on  agriculture  or  gardening;  15 
or  20  will  become  painters,  glaziers,  or  varnishers  ;  an  equal  num- 
ber will  become  bookkeepers  and  accountants ;  and  about  the 
same  number,  builders  and  contractors.  Here  we  have  a  rather 
long  list  of  occupations  into  which  the  number  of  boys  enter- 
ing each  year  is  sufficiently  large  to  warrant  the  formation  of 
vocational  classes  of  a  rather  specialized  sort.  The  number  going 
into  each  other  important  vocational  field  can  be  read  in  Table 
III. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 19 

Table  III. 

Number  Males  per  1000  Employed  in  Each  Important  Vocational 

Field  in  San  Antonio,  and  in  Texas  Cities  in  General. 

Occupational  Census  of  1910. 


San 
Antonio 

gs 

Is 

ll 

50 

Salesmen  and  helpers  in  stores        

8S 

80 

66 

Wholesale  and  retail  dealers 

71 

67 

SS 

Servants    waiters    porters                    

61 

S8 

?7 

Teamsters    delivervnien    livery  stables 

60 

S4 

40 

Steam  and  Street  R.  R.  employees  

SQ 

73 

ss 

Wood-working  industries  (skilled  and  semi-skilled) 
Agents   real  estate  insurance,  etc  

59 
39 

53 
34 

54 
18 

Iron  and  Steel  industries  (skilled  and  semi-skilled) 
Clerks  (excepting  clerks  in  stores)  _ 
Agriculture  and  gardening          

31 
26 
31 

35 
43 
18 

83 
31 
13 

Painters   glaziers   varnishers         .;  — 

18 

1S 

16 

Bookkeepers  and  accountants 

18 

25 

17 

Builders  and  contractors     

16 

13 

10 

Manufacturing  officials  and  overseers  
Barbers 

16 
11 

18 
11 

30 
8 

Printing1  industry 

10 

12 

15 

Kxpress    post    telegraph,  telephone    

10 

13 

8 

Lawyers                                                           

Q 

Q 

6 

Clothing  industries 

q 

8 

q 

Stationary  engineers  and  firemen     

8 

11 

17 

Rlumbers  gas  and  steam  fitters 

8 

7 

10 

Hotel,  restaurant  boarding-house  keepers  

8 

8 

6 

Police,  watchmen,  detectives,  etc  
Brick  and  stone  masons 

8 
8 

8 
7 

9 

q 

Physicians  and  surgeons 

7 

8 

6 

Klectricians 

7 

7 

7 

Leather  industries  ... 

7 

6 

16 

20 CHAPTER  II. 

Janitors  and  sextons 555 

Stenographers  and  typewriters 573 

Metal  workers  (other  than  iron  and  steel)  5       6     10 

Laundry  workers 554 

Musicians  and  music  teachers 543 

Clay,  glass,  and  cement  workers 448 

Civil  and  mining  engineers 453 

Teachers  443 

Clergymen   454 

Fire  department  employees 3       4       3 

Editors,  reporters,  authors  222 

Dentists ,. 2      2 

Draftsmen  and  designers 113 

Mechanical  engineers  1 

Unskilled  labor,  and  scattering 230  244  263 


Enough  boys  leave  each  year  who  are  to  enter  printing  in- 
dustry to  warrant  the  introduction  of  this  training  into  the 
schools.  It  would  more  than  pay  for  itself.  It  will  be  noted 
that  the  number  of  boys  entering  clothing  industries  each  year 
is  fairly  large.  This  would  indicate  that  perhaps  some  scholastic 
training  is  needed  by  boys  as  well  as  by  the  girls.  Only  nine  of 
the  boys  leaving  school  each  year,  out  of  the  thousand  from  all 
grades,  will  become  lawyers.  Only  seven  will  become  physicians. 
Only  four  will  become  teachers ;  an  equal  number  cleryymen. 
Only  two  will  become  editors,  reporters  or  authors.  Only  two 
will  become  dentists.  Only  one  a  draftsman;  and  one  a  me- 
chanical engineer.  The  figures  show  clearly  that  the  vocations 
for  which  training  is  needed  by  the  large  numbers  are  not  the 
professional.  Into  the  professions  only  about  five  percent  of 
the  men  go.  • 

Table  IV  shows  the  number  of  women,  ten  years  and  over 
who  were  employed  in  certain  gainful  occupations  in  1910. 
These  figures  also  refer  to  the  number  of  women  per  thousand 
employed.  They  refer  only  to  women  employed  in  gainful  oc- 
cupations, and  do  not  include  women  employed  in  their  own 
homes  where  no  remuneration  is  paid. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION  _  21 

Table  IV. 

The  Number  of  Women  10  Years  of  Age  and  Over  Employed 

in   Certain  Gainful   Occupations  per   1000   Employed. 

Census  of  1910. 


00 


Servants,  cooks,  waitresses  

242 

247 

202 

Laundresses,  etc  

215 

247 

93 

Clothing  industries  

113 

99 

128 

Saleswomen  

71 

61 

61 

Teachers  

54 

49 

52 

Boarding  house,  hotel,  restaurant  

54 

53 

2>9 

Nurses  and  midwives  

40 

37 

34 

Stenographers  and  typewriters  

35 

51 

47- 

Bookkeepers  and  accountants  

23 

20 

31. 

Employed  housekeepers  

14 

13 

20 

Musicians  and  music  teachers  

14 

12 

13 

Retail  dealers  

13 

9 

12 

Telephone,  etc  

12 

19 

18 

Food  manufacturing  industries  

11 

8 

17 

Clerks  (excepting  clerks  in  stores)  

9 

12 

17 

Manicurists,  hairdressers,  etc.  

6 

5 

r1 

3 

Printing  industries  

5 

5 

6 

About  one-tenth  of  the  population  of  San  Antonio  is  Negro. 
The  census  bureau  does  not  furnish  separate  figures  for  San 
Antonio.  A  few  of  the  occupations  listed  in  the  tables  are 
entered  largely  by  negroes.  Most  of  them,  however,  are  re- 
cruited from  those  who  pass  through  the  white  schools. 

THE  FACTORS  OF  VOCATIONAL  EFFICIENCY. 

The  first  question  that  arises  is,  What  does  one  need  in 
order  to  be  efficient  in  one's  calling?  This  answered  we  can 
mention  the  training  needed,  and  judge  of  the  effectiveness  of 
the  work  now  being  done.  There  are  a  number  of  things  of 
which  we  can  be  fairly  certain : 


22 CHAPTER  II. 

I.  One  needs  to  know  the  nature  of  the  factors  that  enter 
into  one's  work,  know  how  to  control  each  of  them,  and  to  have 
the  necessary  skill  for  such  control.     In  other  words,  one  needs 
to   know   the   technical   science   concerned   in   one's   labors;   to 
know  how  to  make  practical  application  of  this  technical  science 
to  one's  every-day  problems ;  and  to  be  skillful  in  doing  each 
kind  of  task  of  which  the  work  is  made  up.     Illustrations  of 
these  things  will  be  given  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  work  of 
training  for  garden  and  kitchen,  for  shop  and  sewing-room,  etc. 

II.  A  man  needs   to  understand  the  work  that  is  being 
done  by  his  co-workers  in  the  same  general  field, — in  the  same 
factory,  the  same  store,  the  same  railroad  organization,  etc.    The 
work  of  each  man  must  fit  into  the  large  general  scheme,  along 
with  the  work  of  each  other  man.    This  is  needed  for  purposes 
of  efficient  industrial  co-operation.     For  vocational  stimulation, 
a  man  needs  also  to  be  conscious  of  the  fact  that  his  own  work  is 
well-known  and  understood  by  each  of  the  other  workers  of  his 
vocational   group;   that   they   are   in   a   position   to   appreciate 
superior  work  on  his  part ;  and  that  they  are  equally  in  a  position 
to  condemn  inferior  work.     Such  mutual  understanding  is  one 
of  the  large  purposes  of  systematic  vocational  training.     It  is 
generally  accomplished  during  the  learning  period  by  putting 
the  man  to  work  at  first  one  and  then  another  of  all  of  the 
various  kinds  of  tasks  performed  within  the  establishment ;  and 
of  giving  him  the  necessary  techincal  science  concerned  in  the 
performance  of  each  of  these  various  types  of  labor. 

III.  The  worker  needs  to  understand  the  points  of  view, 
the  standards  of  judgment,  the  rights,  responsibilities,  etc.,  of 
the  management.    On  the  other  hand,  he  needs  to  know  that  the 
managers  thoroughly  understand  the  nature  of  the  work  that 
he  is  doing,  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is  being  done, 
his  duties,  resposibilities,  and  rights.     This  is  only  a  wider  ex- 
tension of  the  matter  referred  to   in  the  previous  paragraph. 
Management  and  men  are  engaged  in  carrying  through  a  single 
scries  of  labors.    The  efficiency  of  either  is  dependent  upon  the 
efficiency  of  the  other;  and  it  is  dependent  upon  mutual  co-op- 
eration.    This  can  be  based  only  upon  mutual  understanding. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 23 

This  third  necessity  of  vocational  efficiency  is  not  everywhere 
recognized ;  but  it  is  being  shown  clearly  in  the  recent  testimony 
before  our  U.  S.  Industrial  Commission.  One  of  our  great 
captains  of  industry,  testifying  before  this  Commission  a  few 
weeks  ago  said : 

"I  favor  the  democratization  of  industry  absolutely,  and 
whatever  intelligent  legislation  may  be  directed  to  that  end.  The 
industrial  worker  does  not  want  merely  an  increase  in  wages.  He 

wants  something  more — something  higher And 

he  will  get  these  things.    He  should  have  them 

But  legislation  cannot  accomplish  all  this  alone.  There  must  be 
co-operation  of  the  employer,  the  employed,  and  the  public- 
spirited  citizen  .  .  ...  .  ." 

There  can,  however,  be  no  efficient  and  genuine  co-opera- 
tion except  as  it  is  based  upon  intelligence  and  full  mutual  un- 
derstanding. In  a  later  section  we  shall  point  out  what  history, 
geography,  general  reading,  civics,  etc.,  ought  to  be  taught  by 
way  of  taking  care  of  this  great  national  vocational  need;  and 
how  these  subjects  now  fall  short  of  their  high  mission  because 
of  their  dealing  so  much  of  the  time  with  mere  erudition  and 
pedantic  trivialities. 

IV.  A  worker  should  know  the  community  needs  as  re- 
lated to  the  labors  of  his  calling.  He  should  be  conscious  of  the 
fact  that  the  community  in  general  knows  the  nature  of  his 
rights,  duties,  and  responsibilities ;  that  his  work  is  not  unrecog- 
nized ;  that  they  are  willing  to  reward  him  for  efficient  service, 
and  to  withhold  reward  for  ineffecient  service.  Each  vocational 
group  is  turning  out  some  necessary  commodity  used  by  all  of 
the  other  groups^  and  in  turn  all  of  the  other  social  groups 
are  turning  out  commodities  that  are  used  by  him.  Just  as  the 
men  within  a  factory  need  to  understand  each  other  as  the  basis 
ot  co-operation,  so  within  society  as  a  whole,  the  various  voca- 
tional groups  need  to  recognize  the  ways  in  which  each  group 
supports  the  labors  of  each  other  group,  and  thus  through  ef- 
fectively serving  others  most  effectively  serves  itself.  The  need 


24 CHAPTER  II. 

of  this  wide  vocational  enlightenment  has  not  been  very  fully 
recognized.  Most  education  is  only  dimly  conscious  of  the  need. 
Many  facts  relating  to  these  wider  relations  are  taught  in  our 
nistories  and  our  geographies,  but  they  are  generally  badly  taught 
because  schools  have  not  clearly  defined  the  purposes  for  which 
taught.  These  subjects,  however,  together  with  civics,  econ- 
omics, and  perhaps  a  portion  of  literature,  should  be  organized 
and  developed  so  as  to  serve  this  fourth  highly  necessary  pur- 
pose. 

V.  Before  there  can  be  permanent  vocational  efficiency 
within  a  man,  he  must  possess  high  standards  of  living  so  as  to 
want  to  succeed  in  full  measure  and  upon  a  high  social  level. 
The  man  who  wants  little  will  do  little.  The  man  who  wants 
much  will  do  much.  One  who  wants  little  will  be  satisfied  with 
things  that  are  meager  in  quantity,  cheap  in  quality,  and  inex- 
pensive in  money  and  labor.  The  man  of  high  standards  of  liv- 
ing who  wants  much  is  never  satisfied  with  meager  quantity, 
nor  cheap  quality;  and  the  things  cannot  be  had  inexpensively. 
He  must  think  and  think  hard ;  he  must  work  and  work  hard,  in 
order  to  get  the  things  that  he  wants.  High  appreciation,  high 
desires  and  ambitions,  high  standards  of  living  are  therefore  the 
most  powerful  motive  forces  for  driving  men  to  becoming  effi- 
cient, forceful  thinkers  and  workers  in  any  occupational  field. 
Whatever  the  school  can  do  that  will  raise  standards  of  apprecia- 
tion and  standards  of  living  will  act  indirectly  in  producing  vo- 
cational efficiency.  Although  the  action  is  indirect,  it  is  funda- 
mental. 

When  these  five  things  can  be  fully  developed  within  the 
people  of  a  community,  they  will  be  fully  trained  for  their 
various  callings.  Whatever  training  will  promote  one  or  another 
of  these  five  things  is  justifiable  educational  work.  If  it  is 
already  in  the  curriculum,  it  should  be  kept  there,  expanded, 
and  perfected.  If  anything  can  be  found  which  will  promote 
one  or  another  of  these  things  which  is  not  already  in  the  curri- 
culum it  should  be  placed  there.  Anything  which  is  now  in  the 
course  of  study  for  vocational  purposes,  but  which  cannot  be 
seen  to  serve  in  any  one  of  these  five  ways,  should  be  excluded 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 25 

from  the  course  of  study.  These  principles  of  judgment  and 
selection  are  general  and  can  be  applied  continuously  by  teachers 
and  supervisors.  The  applications  made  in  this  chapter  to  the 
work  in  San  Antonio  are  to  be  looked  upon  only  as  illustrations 
of  the  work  to  be  done. 

The  fundamental  aspect  of  the  training  of  children  and 
youth  along  each  of  these  five  lines  takes  place  in  the  home, 
on  the  street,  in  one's  play  activities,  one's  observations,  and 
participation  in  the  human  activities  that  surround  one  within 
the  community.  During  earlier  conditions  in  this  country 
all  of  this  portion  of  one's  vocational  education  was  accomplished 
with  very  little  scholastic  help.  Labor  was  simple  rule-of-thumb. 
Technical  science  had  not  been  greatly  applied.  The  processes 
were  easily  observed,  since  they  were  not  greatly  complicated. 
The  apprentice  could  learn  as  much  as  the  master  through  mere 
participation  and  observation.  The  fundamental  out-of-school 
aspects  of  education  were  then  sufficient  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. There  appeared  to  be  no  scholastic  supplementary  train- 
ing needed.  At  the  present  time,  however,  processes  have  grown 
highly  complex;  and  in  certain  callings  at  least,  a  very  great 
amount  of  technical  information  is  needed  for  success.  This 
cannot  be  learned  through  mere  looking  on,  or  even  by  working 
as  an  apprentice.  The  processes  are  too  complicated,  and  the 
science  is  hidden  in  the  minds  of  the  workmen.  Moreover,  as 
organizations  have  grown  nation-wide,  the  understanding  and  the 
control  of  the  social  relations  referred  to  especially  in  the  third 
and  fourth  factors  enumerated  above  have  become  endlessly 
complicated.  At  the  same  time,  the  need  of  an  understanding 
o»  these  social  relations  has  been  greatly  increased.  The  funda- 
mental understanding  of  social  relations  got  through  community 
contacts  must  be  very  greatly  supplemented  and  completed  and 
filled  out  by  the  schools,  in  order  that  men  who  live  within 
narrow  communities  may  be  brought  to  understand  the  large 
nation-wide  industrial  and  economic  movements. 

The  fundamental  vocational  training  must  still  be  accom- 
plished outside  of  the  school  just  as  fully  as  ever;  or  by  trans- 
ferring a  portion  of  these  fundamental  labors  to  the  school  for 


CHAPTER  II. 


educational  purposes  because  of  the  difficulty  of  access  to  them 
in  the  community.  The  more  the  work  can  be  accomplished 
under  the  real  conditions  of  the  practical  world,  rather  than 
under  school  conditions,  the  better  the  work  will  be,  all  things 
else  being  equal.  Under  present  conditions  the  more  the  funda- 
mental activities  have  to  be  transferred  to  the  school  for  teach- 
ing purposes,  the  poorer  the  work  is  likely  to  be.  It  is  at  pres- 
ent so  very  difficult  to  develop  an  actual  vocational  atmosphere 
within  the  school. 

Before  organizing  vocational  training  within  the  schools 
on  any  level  and  for  any  one  of  the  purposes  above  specified, 
teachers  and  community  should  search  out  the  fundamental 
vocational  influence  with  which  the  children  are  already  in 
actual  contact.  These  should  be  used  as  the  foundation  upon 
which  all  later  building  is  accomplished.  Generally  they  will 
have  to  be  broadened  and  deepened  so  as  to  give  a  broad  and 
secure  foundation  for  the  supplemental  training  of  the  schools/ 
After  they  have  been  found,  then  the  work  of  the  class-room, 
shop,  kitchen,  garden,  etc.,  should  be  built  definitely  upon  these 
community  foundations,  rounding  out  and  completing  knowledge 
already  possessed.  This  is  the  only  way  to  keep  the  school 
work  anchored  to  reality  ;  the  only  way  to  be  sure  that  it  is 
useful  and  serviceable,  and  worth  paying  for. 

VOCATIONAL  TRAINING  IN  SAN  ANTONIO. 

In  this  field  of  training,  in  very  many  respects,  San  Antonio 
must  be  ranked  among  the  more  progressive  cities  of  the  coun- 
try. In  the  variety  of  occupations  already  introduced  in  some 
degree,  in  the  practical  quality  of  the  work,  and  even  more  in 
the  general  spirit  and  purposes  actuating  those  in  charge,  the 
city  has  taken  a  very  advanced  position.  The  high  school 
takes  care  of  four  years  of  commercial  training.  Shop-work 
is  given  to  the  boys  in  the  two  upper  grades  of  the  elementary 
schools  and  through  the  four  years  of  the  high  school,  covering 
carpentry,  joinery,  furniture-making,  wood-turning,  pattern- 
making,  foundry  practice,  forging,  machine  shop  work,  and 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION        27 

mechanical  drawing.  In  the  vocational  and  Negro  schools  it  is 
given  in  a  larger  amount  of  time  and  begins  earlier  in  the  grades. 
For  the  girls  of  the  regular  courses,  sewing  begins  in  the  sixth 
grade  and  continues  to  the  end  of  the  high  school ;  cooking  is 
given  to  all  grades  beginning  with  the  eighth.  In  the  vocational 
and  colored  schools,  sewing  and  cooking  begin  as  early  as  the 
third  and  fourth  grades.  At  the  new  Negro  high  school  the 
city  is  introducing  gardening,  poultry  raising,  horticulture, 
floriculture,  bench  work  with  wood,  iron  work,  forging,  auto- 
mobile operation  and  repair,  cement  construction,  sewing,  cook- 
ing, laundry  work,  manicuring  and  hair-dressing,  and  a  course 
in  cooking  and  catering  for  Negro  boys.  Not  many  of  our  pro- 
gressive cities  can  provide  a  longer  list. 

We  shall  observe  as  we  take  up  some  of  these  matters  one  f 
by  one  that  much  yet  remains  to  be  done  by  way  of  developing 
the  work;  but  San  Antonio  is  not  alone  in  this  respect.  This 
is  really  the  situation  in  every  city  where  such  work  is  being 
introduced.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  point  out  two  or  three 
principal  kinds  of  defects  in  the  present  work.  In  the  first  place, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  work  at  the  schools  consists  sometimes 
or  little  more  than  merely  a  transfer. of  fundamental  community 
activities  to  the  school  premises.  This  is  good  certainly ;  and 
often  altogether  necessary,  since  if  it  is  not  transferred  to  the 
school,  students  have  no  way  of  getting  into  contact  with  it  any- 
where. But  when  so  transferred  it  must  not  be  left  too  fully 
upon  the  rule-of-thumb  level  of  community  work.  The  supple- 
mentary training  portion  should  be  fully  developed ; — the  science, 
the  drawing  and  design,  the  mathematics,  the  economics,  and  the 
studies  of  a  social  nature  relating  to  each  calling. 

A  second  defect  often  to  be  pointed  out  will  be  the  lack) — 
of  normal  basic  foundations  for  the  supplemental  activities  in 
the  class-rooms.  There  is  often  too  little  related  fundamental 
experience,  either  at  home  or  at  school ;  or  it  is  a  pretended, 
devitalized,  artificial,  make-believe,  foundation  for  the  vocational 
training. 

A  third  kind  of  failure  is  the  teaching  of  the  supposedly 
technical  information,  mathematics,  science,  drawing  and  design, 


28 CHAPTER  II. 

i 

together  with  social  studies  like  history  and  geography,  without 
any  real  or  vital  relation  between  these  studies  and  the  funda- 
mental things  of  the  vocational  world  to  which  they  are  supposed 
to  refer. 

i 

COMMERCIAL   AND   CLERICAL  TRAINING. 

Courses  having  definite  clerical  and  commercial  reference 
are  confined  to  the  high  school.  There  is  one  semester  of  com- 
mercial arithmetic,  three  of  bookkeeping,  two  of  stenography 
and  typewriting,  and  one  each  of  commercial  geography  and 
commercial  law.  The  courses  are  in  the  hands  of  able  teachers 
and  are  developing  along  thoroughly  modern  lines. 

Three  questions  arise:  (1)  Are  there  any  other  subjects 
presumably  of  a  technical  or  vocational  nature  that  are  required 
ol  these  same  students  for  graduation?  (2)  If  so,  are  any  of 
these  presumably  vocational  matters  unnecessary,  irrelevant, 
and  waste  of  time?  (3)  Are  there  other  matters  of  a  voca- 
tional nature  not  now  included  which  ought  to  be  incorporated 
into  the  course?  In  presenting  partial  answers  to  these  ques- 
tions in  the  following  pargraphs,  we  are  more  interested  in  mak- 
ing clear  the  nature  of  the  problems  than  we  are  in  answering 
them.  The  real  responsibility  for  the  solutions  rests  upon  the 
principal  of  the  high  school  and  the  heads  of  the  departments 
concerned. 

Are  there  other  subjects  presumably  vocational  required  of 
these  commercial  students?  The  high  school  course  of  study 
requires  of  them  one  and  one-half  years  of  algebra  and  one  year 
of  plane  geometry.  Presumably  these  are  vocational  studies. 
If  one  will  refer  back  to  the  seven  fields  of  human  activity 
specified  in  Chapter  II,  it  appears  rather  clear  that  neither 
algebra  nor  geometry  can  be  of  functional  service  in  any  of  the 
other  fields.  So  it  must  belong  here,  if  anywhere.  But  clearly, 
neither  study  is  of  any  vocational  service  to  clerical  or  commer- 
cial people.  No  bookkeeper  or  stenographer,  no  buying  or  sell- 
ing agent,  no  manager  of  a  commercial  house,  ever  has  any  need 
for  either  algebraic  operations  or  geometrical  demonstrations. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 29 

To  force  them  upon  commercial  students  with  the  plea  that  it 
will  be  of  service  is  to  obtain  their  time  and  labor  upon  false 
pretenses.  To  hoodwink  a  community  into  paying  for  such  use- 
less subjects  is  to  obtain  and  to  spend  their  money  under  false 
pretenses.  The  teaching  of  these  useless  subjects  to  commercial 
students  is  now  costing  the  city  several  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
The  community  would  do  better  to  save  its  money,  and  use  it 
along  useful  lines  that  are  not  yet  sufficiently  developed.  The 
chief  loss  is  the  loss  of  opportunity  to  the  students  because  of 
this  needless  waste  of  their  time. 

Two  years  of  science  are  also  prescribed  for  commercial 
students.  The  science  thus  forced 'upon  them  seems  in  no  wise 
designed  to  further  their  vocational  labors.  It  is  just  as  diffi- 
cult to  see  how  it  is  consciously  designed  to  further  any  of  their 
other  activities, — a  portion  of  the  physiology  excepted.  It  seems 
to  be  forced  upon  them  not  so  much  for  their  good  as  simply 
for  filling  out  a  four  years'  course.  Such  aimless  prescription 
of  work  cannot  be  justified.  There  are  too  many  things  seri- 
ously needed  by  these  students.  They  cannot  afford  to  have 
their  time  wasted  in  ways  that  do  not  count.  And  a  community 
ought  not  to  pay  hard-earned  money  for  work  unless  it  knows 
just  how  that  work  is  to  count,  and  whether  it  is  to  count  in 
desirable  ways.  Such  irresponsible  work  is  now  going  on,  how- 
ever. 

A  further  question  is,  What  studies  are  left  out  of  the 
training  of  commercial  students  that  ought  to  be  included  in 
order  to  take  care  of  the  five  aspects  of  vocational  efficiency 
enumerated  above?  First,  I  would  mention  commercial  history. 
Commercial  geography  is  already  included  and  this  is  so  organ- 
ized as  to  give  a  wide  and  very  necessary  survey  of  commercial 
relations  throughout  the  world  of  the  present  time.  Rightly 
ti  understand  these  relations,  however,  they  should  have  his- 
torical background.  For  example,  properly  to  understand  the 
world's  cotton  industry  in  the  various  realms  of  production, 
manufacture,  and  commercial  distribution,  it  is  necessary  not 
only  to  view  the  industry  as  it  now  exists  in  the  United  States, 
England,  Germany,  Egypt,  India,  Japan,  etc.,  but  also  to  under- 


30 CHAPTER  II. 

stand  through  history  the  nature  of  the  social,  industrial,  and 
economic  forces  that  have  been  at  work  bringing  about  the 
present  world-situation  in  this  industry.  This  is  true  of  every 
other  commercial  and  industrial  situation  treated  in  the  commer- 
cial geographies.  These  two  subjects  fully  developed  in  their 
economic  aspects  are  particularly  necessary  for  developing  the 
third  and  fourth  factors  of  vocational  efficiency  set  down  in  our 
list. 

For  developing  these  same  factors  there  ought  also  to  be  a 
full  and  concrete  study  of  economics.  We  do  not  here  refer  to  the 
abstract  economics  that  is  usually  taught  in  our  colleges,  but 
rather  to  what  might  better  in  the  high  school  be  a  large  ex- 
pansion of  the  economic  side  of  the  commercial  geography 
and  commercial  history.  The  three  things  ought  certainly  to 
b(.  taught  together.  The  mode  of  organization  is  easy.  Simply 
organize  the  industrial  and  commercial  courses  in  the  field 
by  situations.  That  is  to  say,  treat  the  cotton  industry  in 
all  of  its  various  aspects  geographically,  historically,  economi- 
cally. Treat  the  sugar  industry  in  the  same  way.  Then  the 
steel  industry;  and  so  on  through  the  entire  list.  We  are  not 
here  referring  to  any  pedantic  scheme  of  so-called  correlation. 
We  simply  refer  to  the  necessity  of  finding  the  fundamental 
situation  in  the  fields  of  practical  commercial  affairs  and  then 
in  the  schools  of  giving  such  technical  and  social  information 
about  each  situation  as  any  practical  man  needs  to  have.  There 
is  nothing  abstruse  about  the  plan.  It  is  simply  every-day  com- 
mon-sense. The  two  chief  difficulties  in  the  way  of  getting 
it  properly  done  are :  the  traditional  attitude  of  subject-teaching 
schoolmen,  whether  in  city  schools  or  colleges;  and  the  text- 
book situation  which  at  the  present  time  so  largely  follows  the 
dictates  of  these  same  subject-teaching  schoolmen.  It  is  not 
always  possible  therefore  to  find  a  study  of  the  cotton  industry, 
for  example,  or  the  sugar  industry,  or  the  lumber  industry,  which 
properly  develops  alongside  each  other  in  an  organic  way  all 
the  various  lines  of  needed  information.  Generally  it  will  be 
found  divided  up,  a  part  of  it  in  one  book,  and  a  part  in  another 
book.  The  situation  is  sufficiently  irrational ;  but  school  people 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 31 

for  the  present  can  organize  materials  in  a  syllabus,  and  furnish 
the  reading  in  the  library. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  this  training  for  clerical  and 
commercial  occupations  which  is  as  yet  insufficiently  developed. 
There  is  not  enough  practical  work,  not  enough  actual  contact 
with  clerical  and  commercial  realities  on  the  part  of  the  students. 
So  far  as  I  was  able  to  observe,  the  drill  work  in  the  classes  in 
typewriting,  stenography,  and  bookkeeping,  seems  to  be  of 
commendable  quality,  so  far  as  it  can  be  made  such  by  energetic 
teachers  under  conditions  that  are  too  exclusively  scholastic. 
Students  in  these  subjects  remained  at  their  practice  labors 
after  school  was  dismissed  in  greater  numbers  than  any  other 
class  of  students  observed.  They  were  trying  strenuously  to 
attain  definite  objective  standards  in  the  way  of  speed  and  accur- 
acy. These  standards  were  based  upon  the  actual  needs  of  the 
commercial  world  into  which  they  wish  to  go  in  the  near  future. 
This  is  naturally  one  of  the  best  possible  modes  of  anchoring 
the  practice  work  of  the  commercial  course  to  the  fundamental 
realities  of  the  commercial  world  during  the  period  of  training. 
It  is,  however,  insufficient.  One's  imagination  is  not  a  sufficient 
substitute  for  reality.  High  school  commercial  courses  through- 
out the  country  are  notoriously  ineffective  in  developing  that 
necessary  feeling  of  responsibility  that  is  an  indispensable  factor 
Oi  vocational  efficiency.  For  clerical  or  commercial  people,  it  is 
worth  as  much  as  speed  or  accuracy  on  the  typewriter.  Schools 
are  greatly  deficient  also  in  developing  actual  business  points 
of  view,  standards  of  judgment,  appreciation  of  commercial 
relations  in  the  concrete,  etc.,  etc.  These  are  not  things  that  can 
be  adequately  learned  through  telling  or  reading.  They  are 
not  things  in  which  students  can  be  drilled  in  a  class-room  where 
commercial  realities  or  clerical  realities  are  non-existent.  The 
responsibility,  the  judgment,  and  the  other  things  are  developed 
only  by  putting  people  into  positions  that  demand  responsibility, 
good  judgment,  etc.  In  other  words,  in  the  commerical  educa- 
tion the  work  is  a  bit  top-heavy  on  the  side  of  the  scholastic 
supplemental,  and  is  lacking  in  ballast  on  the  side  of  the  com- 
munity fundamental  portion  of  the  student's  education. 


32  CHAPTER  II. 

How  can  the  schools  introduce  more  contact  with  funda- 
mental community  activities?  Several  things  can  be  done.  The 
school  system  is  the  largest  single  institution  in  the  community ; 
and  it  is  the  most  complicated  one.  On  the  material  side  it  has 
a  plant  in  the  care  and  equipment  of  which  are  involved  many 
score  separate  items.  As  school  work  is  developed  in  ways  daily 
becoming  more  pressing,  many  other  items  will  have  to  be  in- 
cluded. Now,  the  efficiency  in  the  management  of  the  material 
aspect  of  the  school  plant  involves  necessarily  much  accurate 
bookkeeping  and  accounting.  Our  progressive  cities  at  the 
present  time  are  introducting  what  is  called  the  Bureau  of  In- 
vestigation and  Appraisal.  The  work  of  such  a  bureau  must  be 
based  upon  accurate  accounting  of  very  many  kinds.  The  details 
o.r  this  work  constitute  a  rather  extensive  series  of  complicated 
bookkeeping  and  accounting  problems.  San  Antonio  has  a  suffi- 
cient number  for  several  score  clerical  students,  for  a  portion 
of  their  practice  work.  Such  work  need  not  in  any  wise  elimi- 
nate or  curtail  the  drill  work  that  is  now  done.  It  ought  to 
stimulate  it,  and  it  ought  to  bring  about  the  development  of  a 
number  of  things  that  cannot  possibly  be  accomplished  in  an 
atmosphere  of  pure  abstract  drill  work  such  as  now  obtains  in 
altogether  too  great  measure  in  the  commercial  training  room, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  nothing  else  has  been  found  of  a 
serious  nature  to  do. 

The  clerical  work  referred  to  is  what  is  coming  to  be  termed 
in  the  educational  world  "part-time"  work.  Both  business  men 
and  schoolmen  in  our  more  progressive  cities  nowadays  are 
introducing  part-time  work  along  many  lines.  In  San  Antonio 
there  are  probably  small  commercial  and  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments in  which  the  business  is  not  large  enough  to  warrant 
the  employment  of  a  stenographer,  typewriter;  or  bookkeeper, 
but  where  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  work  to  be  done 
which  the  proprietor  would  gladly  turn  over  to  part-time  student- 
workers  if  he  could  be  assured  of  competent  supervision  and 
confidential  relations — the  latter  a  necessary  part  of  vital  train- 
ing, which  the  purely  gymnastic  clerical  class-room  work  wholly 
lacks.  Business  men  are  naturally  suspicious  of  immature  work- 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION    33 

ers  of  this  type,  at  present,  because  of  the  general  irresponsibility 
of  students.  They  generally  are  irresponsible,  chiefly  because 
they  have  had  no  practice  in  bearing  responsibility.  Students, 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  over,  are  in  fact  capable  of  bearing 
such  responsibilities,  when  conditions  permit  this  side  of  their 
training  to  be  developed. 

A  third  suggestion  for  fundamental  part-time  work  is  home- 
accounting.  When  done  adequately  this  is  anything  but  a  small 
piece  of  work.  It  might  be  continuous  for  high  school  students 
throughout  the  entire  high  school  course.  It  might  be  of  large 
practical  significance  to  those  concerned.  It  is,  however,  a  piece 
of  work  that  cannot  be  transferred  to  the  school.  Like  house- 
cleaning  or  home-gardening,  it  is  a  type  of  work  that  must  be 
done  wholly  at  home.  The  facts  are  of  an  intimate  family  nature 
that  forbid  their  being  taken  away  from  the  home.  Here,  as  in 
many  other  things,  we  are  coming  to  see  that  teachers  must 
direct  work  where  it  can  best  be  done,  not  where  it  best  suits 
their  personal  convenience. 

There  are  perhaps  other  fields  in  which  part-time  clerical 
and  accounting  work  could  be  devised.  The  schools  for  pur- 
poses of  civic  education  need  to  be  in  pretty  close  contact  with 
the  fundamental  governmental  activities  of  the  community. 
Could  part-time  clerical  work  be,  arranged  in  connection  with 
certain  city  offices,  the  work  would  be  excellent  for  the  clerical 
students  on  the  side  of  both  vocational  and  civic  training. 
Through  connecting  it  with  a  type  of  civic  training  later  to  be  re- 
ferred to,  it  might  incidentally  be  salutary  for  city  offices. 

The  fact  that  partially  trained  students  are  in  need  of  checks 
and  supervision  can  be  made  use  of  educationally  in  arranging 
any  such  system  of  training.  When  different  sets  of  students  do 
the  same  task  independently,  each  serves  as  a  check  upon  the 
accuracy  of  the  work.  Also,  one  set  of  students  can  be  employed 
t)  inspect  and  check  up  the  results  of  practical  work  done  by 
other  sets  of  students.  To  inspect  work  and  do  it  effectively 
is  sometimes  as  good  training  as  to  do  the  work  itself ;  and  it  is 
a  part  of  both  clerical  and  commercial  labors. 


34 CHAPTER  III. 

TRAINING  FOR  HOUSEHOLD  OCCUPATIONS. 

This  field  of  vocational  training  has  been  better  developed 
than  any  other  within  the  system.  It  is  rather  more  easily 
developed  than  any  other  because  of  the  facility  with  which  so 
large  a  part  of  the  fundamental  activities  can  be  transferred  to 
the  school  premises  without  loss  of  vocational  atmosphere.  All 
of  the  sewing  can  be  transferred  bodily.  Some  of  the  canning, 
preserving,  jelly-making,  will  also  transfer.  Some  of  the  bak- 
ing would  transfer  if  the  school  made  up  its  mind  to  it.  But  even 
better  than  this,  the  whole  student  body  finds  itself  at  school  as 
much  in  need  of  its  noon-day  meal  as  if  at  home ;  so  that  the 
luncheon  problem  will  transfer  itself  wholly  and  bodily  to  the 
school  in  so  far  as  the  schools  care  to  undertake  it  for  training 
purposes.  Where  real  work  can  be  carried  to  the  school  in  this 
fashion,  the  educational  problems  become  relatively  easy. 
House-cleaning,  household  decoration,  the  care  and  feeding  of 
babies,  etc.,  are  matters  that  will  not  transfer  in  such  simple 
fashion,  and  which  require  the  school  to  go  to  the  homes  for 
finding  the  foundation  activities  for  its  technical  scholastic  la- 
bors. 

Training  is  given  at  present  in  sewing  of  many  kinds,  both 
hand  and  machine,  simple  millinery,  simple  household  decoration, 
plain  cooking,  invalid  cooking,  household  sanitation,  marketing, 
home  nursing,  care  of  children,  etc.  The  list  is  unusually  com- 
plete. 

Since  the  practical  labors  of  the  household  training  are  for 
perfecting  the  fundamental  labors  that  the  girls  perform  in  their 
homes,  and  since  the  practical  labors  of  home  and  school  are 
integral  portions  of  one  educational  task,  two  things  are  to  be 
said:  (1)  The  conditions  of  the  practical  school  training 
should  be  considerably  better  in  every  possible  way  than  those 
of  the  homes  in  general  from  which  the  children  come ;  (2)  The 
school  conditions  must  not  be  made  so  different  from  those  of 
the  home  that  they  are  severed,  one  from  the  other,  the  methods 
taught  in  the  school  being  impossible  in  the  home  because  of 
differences  of  equipment,  materials,  etc. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 35 

The  physical  conditions  provided  by  the  school  board  in 
the  recently  equipped  household  training  centers,  pretty  ade- 
quately meet  these  demands.  The  accommodations  provided  at 
the  Highland  Park  School,  at  the  Crockett,  etc.,  are  light,  sani- 
laiy,  well-aranged,  orderly,  well-equipped,  and  pleasing.  The 
city  is  making  very  commendable  physical  provision  for  this 
highly  necessary  field  of  training.  It  is  possible,  however,  to 
point  out  work  observed  that  was  being  done  under  undesirable 
physical  conditions ;  as  for  example,  the  sewing  in  the  unneces- 
sarily darkened  room  at  the  Brackenridge  High  School.  When 
lighting  standards  for  sewing  rooms  are  so  well  known  as  at 
present,  and  when  there  are  so  many  persons  bearing  responsi- 
bility for  pointing  out  such  a  condition, — principal,  superintend- 
ent of  buildings,  expert  adviser  of  the  board  as  to  buildings, 
supervisor  of  sewing,  teacher  of  sewing,  school  physician — 
it  is  but  surprising  that  so  exceptional  a  condition  could  be  per- 
mitted to  exist  so  long. 

On  the  side  of  technical  information  for  the  girls  in  house- 
hold occupation  courses,  what  subjects  are  now  taught  that 
should  be  taught?  What  ones  are  not  taught  that  should  be 
taught?  And  what  ones  of  ostensible  vocational  value  are  now 
required  that  are  of  insufficient  vocational  service  to  warrant 
their  teaching?  To  begin  with  the  first,  quite  a  wide  range  of 
related  technical  science  is  now  being  developed.  The  most 
complete  at  present  is  that  of  household  bacteriology  which  is 
given  to  all  classes  where  cooking  is  taught.  Others  are  the 
chemistry  of  foods,  dietetics,  hygiene  as  related  to  food,  hygiene 
as  related  to  dress,  design  as  related  to  garment-making,  physi- 
ology and  hygiene  as  related' to  the  care  of  children,  household 
accounts,  cost  accounting  in  each  of  the  fields  of  household  ac- 
tivity, etc.  These  matters  are  all  desirable.  Most  of  them  are 
in  need  of  much  further  development  than  that  now  reached. 
Perhaps  if  we  were  to  add  the  physics  of  the  household,  the  list 
would  be  fairly  complete  in  range.  Most  of  these  subjects  are 
not  well  taught  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  necessary  facilities 
are  not  sufficiently  provided;  and  where  partially  provided,  are 
not  turned  toward  the  specific  needs  of  household  training. 


36 CHAPTER  III. 

For  the  elementary  cooking,  the  necessary  science  is  yet  largely 
undeveloped.  There  is  no  course  in  elementary  science  in  the 
elementary  school,  nor  are  the  kitchens  equipped  for  very  much 
laboratory  study  of  the  scientific  factors  entering  into  the  pro- 
cesses. In  the  Main  Avenue  High  School  two  years  of  science 
are  required  of  all  of  the  girl  students  who  desire  to  graduate. 
Many  take  physics  or  chemistry.  The  courses  at  present  offered, 
however,  have  not  been  drawn  up  with  a  view  to  meeting  the 
vocational  needs  of  these  girls, — nor  for  specifically  meeting 
any  other  kind  of  vocational  needs.  These  high  school  courses 
are  offering  supplementary  training  to  girls  without  any  par- 
ticular consideration  of  whether  it  relates  the  fundamentals  or 
not,  a  clear  violation  of  the  very  first  principle  concerned  in 
drawing  up  a  science  course  for  public  education.  Such  required 
science  courses  of  abstract  irrelevant  type  are  for  high  schools 
survivals  of  a  form  of  science-teaching  that  is  rapidly  growing 
obsolete.  Science  for  women  should  relate  definitely  to  situa- 
tions in  which  women  actually  find  themselves.  Naturally  there 
should  be  science  study  of  the  preliminary  over-view  type ;  but 
it  will  be  only  introductory.  The  real  work  should  come  in  con- 
nection with  the  practical  situations.  The  high  school  science 
work  for  these  girls  now  does  give  the  preliminary  over-view. 
But  it  does  it  badly  because  as  introductory  work  it  is  so  much 
overdone  and  uses  such  unsuitable  methods  and  materials.  And 
the  broad  range  of  functional  science  is  pushed  out  and  omitted 
altogether.  A  generous  estimate  will  not  allow  more  than 
fifty  percent  of  the  useful  in  such  high  school  science  teaching. 
The  city  is  in  all  probability  wasting  half  of  the  money  that  is 
now  being  spent  on  the  teaching  of  this  irrelevant  introductory 
science  to  girls.  And  this  at  a  time  when  there  is  a  crying  need 
in  so  many  departments  of  woman's  affairs  for  a  fuller  under- 
standing of  practical  applied  science.  The  loss  of  several  thous- 
and dollars  annually  expended  for  this  fifty  percent  of  wasted 
science-teaching  is  not  the  serious  part  of  the  matter.  The 
serious  thing  is  that  girls  can  take  so-called  science  courses 
without  sufficiently  acquiring  the  scientific  attitude  of  mind 
and  points  of  view  with  reference  to  the  specific  problems  of 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION _37 

woman's  complicated  labors.  The  divorce  of  the  technical  and 
practical  enfeebles  both.  The  chief  waste  is  the  waste  of  op- 
portunity. 

The  high  school  needs  to  furnish  well-developed  and  well- 
oiganized  courses  for  the  girls  in  the  physics  of  the  household, 
the  chemistry  of  the  household,  the  bacteriology  of  the  house- 
hold, etc.  The  laboratories,  the  equipment,  appliances,  materials, 
etc.,  should  be  of  a  sort  that  is  related  to  practical  household 
situations.  Household  physics,  for  example,  should  deal  with 
heat  as  related  to  the  conductivity  of  different  metals  and  other 
substances  used  in  the  utensils  actually  employed  in  the  house- 
hold, such  as  glass,  porcelain,  chinaware,  earthenware,  asbestos, 
wood,  etc.  The  apparatus  should  be  the  utensils  themselves. 
In  the  same  manner  it  should  deal  with  the  mechanics  of  plumb- 
ing fixtures,  window  fixtures,  ventilation,  sewing  machines,  etc. ; 
with  the  mechanics  and  the  electricity  of  electric  motors,  electric 
irons,  electric  fans,  toasters,  electric  bells,  batteries,  etc. ;  with 
color  and  color  harmony  as  related  to  household  decoration, 
garments,  furniture,  etc. ;  and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of 
physical  matters.  In  the  same  way  the  work  of  the  home 
abounds  with  situations  involving  chemical  relations,  so  that  a 
very  elaborate  chemistry  of  household  matters  is  possible  and 
highly  desirable.  The  same  can  be  said  for  bacteriological  study. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  science  work  required  of  the 
girls  in  the  high  school  be  thoroughly  over-hauled,  and  reorgan- 
ized so  as  to  relate  it  as  fully  as  possible  to  practical  affairs.  The 
preliminary  introductory  surveys  of  each  science  should  be  con- 
ducted in  a  manner  appropriate  to  such  pre-practical  or  prepara- 
tory science. 

Another  subject  indispensable  for  the  household  arts  is  a 
fully  developed  course  in  drawing  and  design.  There  is  draw- 
ing now  in  the  manual  training  department  for  man's  shop- 
labors.  There  is  no  special  teacher  of  drawing  and  design  at  the 
present  time  giving  corresponding  work  to  the  girls,  although 
it  is  needed  for  woman's  household  labors  as  fully  as  for  man's 
shop-work.  At  the  present  time  the  matters  of  design,  color 
harmony,  etc.,  are  taken  care  of  incidentally  by  the  teachers  of 


3S CHAPTER  III. 

household  arts.  The  work  requires  a  large  amount  of  specialized 
training,  and  it  requires  certain  specialized  points  of  view.  It 
would,  appear  that  there  should  be  employed  a  teacher  of  art 
and  design  as  these  apply  to  the  work  of  the  girls,  who  would 
give  time  to  the  art  side  of  the  girls'  work  in  the  high  school 
and  through  the  elementary  schools. 

It  is  probably  not  desirable  to  have  courses  in  general  art 
and  design  in  either  elementary  school  or  high  school, — except 
of  course  for  the  preliminary  aspects  of  the  study.  Beyond  a 
little  of  this,  to  be  introduced  incidentally,  all  should  probably 
bt  applied  art  and  design.  There  should  be  art  for  the  girls 
in  connection  with  the  making  of  garments,  curtains,  hangings, 
embroidery,  work  bags,  satchels,  home  decoration,  home  furnish- 
ings, etc.,  etc.  All  of  the  general  principles  of  design  can  be  de- 
veloped in  connection  with  these  special  applications  to  this 
wide  variety  of  work. 

Primarily  the  teacher  of  art  for  the  girls  should  know  the 
fundamental  nature  of  the  household  occupations.  She  should 
see  her  drawing  and  design  not  as  a  thing  in  itself,  but  only  as 
an  aspect  of  the  fundamental  labors  and  thinking  of  the  girls  in 
carrying  forward  the  occupations  of  the  homes,  or  the  same  oc- 
cupations as  they  are  specialized  and  commercialized  outside 
the  home.  The  art  motive  may  well  be  strong.  In  fact  it  should 
be  strong;  but  it  should  not  be  the  dominant  one.  The  latter 
place  should  be  reserved  for  the  vocational  motive  with  art  en- 
tering in  only  as  the  hand-maiden  to  labor.  This  is  already  the 
attitude  of  the  department  of  household  occupations.  The  art 
side  simply  needs  the  means  of  development.  The  women  of 
the  community  should  see  that  it  is  developed.  The  present  art 
work  of  the  schools  is  in  serious  need  of  development.  It  is 
especially  needed  in  the  high  school. 

There  is  a  further  question.  Are  any  subjects  required 
of  the  girls  that  are  ostensibly  for  vocational  purposes  only,  but 
which  really  are  not  worth  the  time,  labor  and  cost?  This  is 
true  of  a  good  part  of  the  applications  of  arithmetic  in  the  ele- 
mentary school.  The  textbook  taught  is  unnecessarily  full  for 
the  girls  who  are  not  going  into  commercial  occupations.  For 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 39 

those  who  are  going  into  these  occupations  and  need  the  more 
specialized  portions  of  the  arithmetic,  the  subjects  should  be 
taught  in  the  specialized  commercial  course  of  the  high  school. 
Certain  portions  of  commercial  arithmetic  need  not  be  forced 
upon  all  elementary  school  girls  merely  because  some  of  them 
will  later  go  into  commercial  labors.  The  city  has  already  recog- 
nized the  over-abundance  of  materials  in  the  text  and  has  already 
cut  out  matters  like  domestic  exchange,  foreign  exchange,  cube 
root,  compound  proportion,  compound  interest,  annual  interest, 
the  introductory  algebra  work,  etc.  A  committee  of  intelligent 
women  of  the  community  who  are  not  teachers  but  who  are 
familiar  with  the  fundamentals  of  household  occupations  should 
be  asked  to  go  through  the  arithmetic  text  now  taught  in  the 
upper  grades  and  to  point  out  the  matters  that  have  no  sufficient 
connection  with  or  relation  to  the  labors  that  they  perform  and 
which  could  be  omitted  without  loss  from  the  work  of  the  girls 
in  their  training  for  household  occupations.  The  more  such  a 
committee  of  women  could  forget  the  arithmetical  mattters  that 
they  themselves  studied  in  elementary  school  years  ago,  the  bet- 
ter perhaps  would  be  their  judgments  as  to  what  is  actually 
needed  of  an  arithmetical  sort  for  household  occupations. 

In  the  high  school  all  of  the  girls  who  graduate  are  re- 
quired to  take  one  and  one-half  years  of  algebra  and  one  year 
of  demonstrational  geometry.  Such  a  requirement  is  absolutely 
inexcusable.  The  algebra  is  an  absolute  waste;  the  geometry 
is  almost  wholly  waste.  The  form  studies  that  the  girls  ought 
to  have  should  be  found  in  connection  with  their  drawing  and 
design  and  their  construction  work.  The  city  is  now  paying 
several  thousand  dollars  for  the  wasted  teaching  of  a  subject 
ostensibly  vocational  which  can  be  of  no  value  in  their  labors. 
The  matter  should  be  left  to  a  responsible  committee  of  lay- 
women  to  decide.  Let  the  mothers  of  the  girls  who  are  going 
through  the  high  school  select  such  a  committee.  Let  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  divest  themselves  of  all  academic  precon- 
ceptions, and  look  at  the  situation  through  the  eyes  of  straight- 
forward common-sense. 


40 CHAPTER  III. 

The  problem  is  one  of  large  moment  to  the  city :  because  of 
the  money  cost  to  taxpayers;  because  of  the  financial  sacrifices 
of  families  to  keep  their  daughters  in  the  high  school ;  because 
of  the  great  amount  of  labor  done  by  the  hundreds  of  high 
school  girls ;  because  of  the  things  of  worth  that  have  to  be 
omitted  to  teach  this  algebra  and  geometry.  Where  so  much  is 
involved  and  where  the  waste  is  cumulative  the  city  cannot 
afford  not  to  investigate.  The  investigating  committee  should 
find  out  what  the  leaders  of  social  thought  and  action  through 
the  United  States  think  of  the  necessity  of  algebra  and  demon- 
strational  geometry  for  girls  and  women.  They  should  learn 
whether  there  is  a  tendency  to  omit  these  subjects,  in  forward- 
looking  high  schools,  from  the  courses  of  the  girls. 

The  girls  need  mathematics.  They  need  to  think  mathe- 
matically accurately  in  matters  of  household  accounting,  buying 
problems  as  related  to  the  grocery,  the  dry  goods  store,  etc.,  rent, 
insurance,  durability  and  depreciation,  saving  and  waste,  rational 
distribution  of  the  family  income  as  related  to  different  stand- 
ards of  living,  etc.,  etc.  As  we  shall  point  out  in  the  discussion 
on  civic  training,  this  newly  developing  type  of  education  must 
include  a  large  quantity  of  cost-accounting  and  mathematical 
economic  study.  To  drop  out  mathematics  useless  to  women  will 
not  really  mean  less  mathematical  thinking  than  in  the  past. 
It  will  mean  time  saved  for  a  valuable  kind  of  mathematics  rather 
than  a  valueless  kind.  Certain  of  these  necessary  mathematical 
matters  are  now  being  developed  along  right  lines  by  the  house- 
hold arts  department  in  conjunction  with  the  accounting  division 
of  the  commercial  department.  This  development  should  be 
pushed  with  vigor.  All  applied  mathematics  should  be  taught 
in  the  departments  in  which  it  is  applied ;  and  not  be  segregated 
in  the  mathematics  department. 

The  girls  in  training  for  household  arts  should  be  given  a 
large  amount  of  social  information  pertaining  to  home  activities 
and  conditions.  At  the  present  time  one  of  the  books  taken  up 
for  study  relates  to  woman's  share  in  primitive  culture.  This 
needs  to  be  continued  down  through  the  historical  period  as 
well.  Other  matters  studied  relate  to  the  cost  of  living  and  the 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 41 

factors  of  control,  to  the  social  responsibilities  of  women  in 
expending  the  family  budget,  the  conditions  of  domestic  service, 
social  consideration  of  the  various  factors  entering  into  house- 
hold administration,  etc.,  etc.  The  history,  the  civics,  and  the 
geography  teachers  of  the  high  school  seem  oblivious  of  their 
opportunity  just  here.  They  have  not  seen  that  these  subjects 
are  valueless  except  as  they  are  used  to  illumine,  to  help  one 
tc  see  in  large  social  ways,  the  things  of  the  practical  every-day 
life  of  today.  Much  of  the  high  school  geography,  physiography, 
as  it  is  called,  now  given  to  the  girls,  is  of  about  as  much  real 
value  to  them  as  would  be  the  geology  of  the  farther  side  of  the 
moon.  Of  about  equal  value  is  much  of  the  ancient  and  medieval 
history  now  given ;  and  much  of  the  antique  civics. 

These  subjects  need  to  be  organized  in  ways  discussed  in 
later  sections  of  this  report.  When  so  organized,  they  should 
include  large  quantities  of  information  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
large  historical,  geographical  and  social  background  and  per- 
spective to  the  present-day  situation  of  the  household. 

On  the  side  of  practical  work,  the  sewing  is  well  developed. 
The  girls  are  making  garments  that  are  to  be  worn.  On  the 
side  of  cooking,  the  work  needs  development.  They  have  less 
opportunity  for  cooking  actual  meals.  The  best  place  for  the 
girls  to  put  their  domestic  science  information  to  practical  ser- 
vice is  in  preparing  the  meals  at  their  homes.  The  schools  can- 
not count  on  their  doing  it,  however,  unless  there  is  full  co-opera- 
tion with  the  homes,  and  supervision  of  some  type.  The  school 
crediting  of  home-work  is  an  entering  wedge.  Contact  of  domes- 
tic science  teacher  with  the  mothers  at  school  meetings  and  in 
their  homes  is  necessary  also.  The  supplementary  information: 
given  in  the  school  must  be  brought  to  function  under  normal 
conditions,  or  the  education  is  not  accomplished.  If  not  so  ap- 
plied the  information  is  forgotten,  and  the  work  has  been  wasted. 
A  community  generally  has  too  much  faith  in  the  schools'  ability 
to  educate  under  artificial  isolated  conditions.  It  simply  can- 
not be  done.  It  is  but  building  on  shifting  sands. 

In  some  part  this  problem  will  transfer  to  the  schools.  The 
ptnny  luncheon  or  nickel  luncheon  now  coming  into  elementary 


42 CHAPTER  III. 

schools  may  well  be  prepared  by  domestic  science  classes.  Let 
the  girls  do  the  planning,  the  marketing,  the  cooking,  the  sewing, 
the  collecting,  etc.,  and  the  chain  of  real  responsibilities  will  be 
fairly  complete.  The  school  kitchen  will  not  then  be  a  play- 
kitchen,  but  one  of  real  work. 

The  high  schools  offer  still  better  opportunities,  and  to  the 
girls  of  a  more  responsible  age.  Both  high  schools  must  now  and 
perhaps  always  must  have  their  noonday  luncheon  at  the  school. 
At  present  it  is  but  a  hurried  feeding  time  under  highly  undesir- 
able conditions.  At  one  of  the  high  schools  everything  is  purchas- 
ed from  itinerant  street  vendors  or  the  little  local  shops  along  the 
street ;  and  it  is  consumed  mostly  on  the  street  and  in  the  school- 
yard as  the  pupils  return  to  the  buildings.  It  has  to  be  bolted 
because  of  the  brevity  of  time.  At  the  other  high  school,  certain 
basement  rooms  are  improvised  for  luncheon  purposes;  but  no 
thought  has  been  taken,  it  appears,  on  the  part  of  the  adminis- 
tiation  towards  using  the  opportunity  for  educational  purposes. 
It  is  sufficiently  absurd  for  the  high  school  to  teach  textbook 
dietetics  at  one  hour  in  the  day,  and  then  violate  every  dictum 
of  such  dietetics  at  the  luncheon  hour.  The  domestic  science 
people  need  to  be  put  in  charge  of  the  preparation  and  the  serving 
of  the  luncheon.  The  schools  cannot  afford  to  throw  away  such 
an  excellent  training  opportunity.  Naturally  any  excess  purely 
routine  labor  might  be  done  by  hired  help.  But  the  head-work, 
so  to  speak,  and  the  responsibility  needs  to  be  carried  by  the  girls 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  their  education. 

EDUCATION  FOR  MECHANICAL  OCCUPATIONS. 

Taking  cities  in  general,  more  men  are  employed  in  mechani- 
cal occupations  of  one  kind  or  another  than  in  any  other  group. 
The  proportion  in  San  Antonio  is  not  so  large  as  in  cities  in 
general.  It  is,  however,  a  class  that  will  probably  grow  in  num- 
bers ;  and  moreover,  the  boys  of  San  Antonio  in  considerable 
number  are  sure  to  distribute  themselves  among  many  cities. 
The  city  is  justified  in  laying  large  stress  on  training  for  mechni- 
cal  labors. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 43 

In  this  department,  as  in  those  of  commercial  subjects  and 
of  household  arts,  the  city  has  been  fortunate  in  finding  strong 
heads  of  departments  who  are  able  fully  to  take  the  practical 
vocational  point  of  view.  Teachers  employed  are  generally  those 
who  have  had  practical  trade  experience.  An  excellent  arrange- 
ment is  found  in  the  case  of  a  certain  teacher,  who  after  teach- 
ing in  the  schools  for  nine  months  in  the  year,  works  at  his  trade 
during  the  three  months  of  summer.  Such  a  plan  would  be  sal- 
utary for  every  teacher  of  vocational  subjects. 

The  boys  are  generally  found  making  things  of  use, — per- 
sonal use  or  school  use.  One  finds  them  making  tables,  chairs, 
office-desks,  cabinets,  porch  swings,  writing-desks,  book-cases, 
piano  benches,  medicine  cabinets,  towel-racks,  easels  for  relief 
maps,  shoe-shine  boxes,  benches,  etc.  For  the  play-grounds  the 
shops  have  constructed  in  certain  cases  giant-strides,  horizontal 
bars,  teeter-boards,  flag  staffs,  basket-ball  and  volley-ball  ap- 
paratus, together  with  tables  and  benches  for  the  outdoor 
luncheons.  Certain  of  the  play-ground  apparatus  observed,  as 
for  example,  that  at  School  No.  2,  possess  a  solidity  and  dura- 
bility that  is  often  lacking  in  the  output  of  our  commercial 
houses.  At  one  of  the  schools,  the  students  in  the  manual  train- 
ing shop  were  engaged  in  making  an  elaborate  play-ground  slide, 
ladder  and  all,  of  maple  and  ash.  All  this  is  real  work  under  real 
shop  conditions,  since  it  is  turning  out  a  product  that  is  to  be 
of  service. 

A  rather  unusual  form  of  training, — unusually  superior  I 
should  say, — was  found  at  two  elementary  schools.  At  each  of 
these,  the  upper  grade  boys  in  the  carpentry  class  had  con- 
structed a  complete  portable  three-room  cottage,  of  a  type  very 
much  used  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  school.  When  the  building 
is  sold  it  will  be  moved  away  from  the  school  premises  and  the 
next  carpentry  class  will  continue  its  training  by  constructing 
another.  One  of  these  cottages  was  thirty-three  by  sixteen  feet 
in  size,  with  three  rooms,  two  porches,  six  windows,  three  doors, 
shingled,  glazed,  and  painted.  All  the  work  was  done  by  the 
grammar  school  grades.  This  is  what  we  have  termed  the  trans- 
fer of  a  real  work  situation  to  the  school  premises  for  training 


44  y CHAPTER  III. 

purposes.  When  such  a  practical  task  can  lie  at  the  foundation 
of  the  architectural  planning,  the  mechanical  drawing,  the  studies 
of  mechanical  relations,  etc.,  no  better  form  of  carpentry  train- 
ing can  be  devised.  In  such  training,  San  Antonio  has  about 
reached  the  high  water  mark  of  excellence.  Work  of  this  same 
high  type,  lying  close  to  the  vocation  itself  needs  also  to  be  in- 
troduced into  the  two  high  school  manual  training  courses,  for 
those  who  wish  to  specialize  in  this  general  field. 

On  the  basis  of  such  practical  foundation,  what  desirable 
studies  of  a  technical  nature  are  given?  To  begin  with,  there 
is  a  very  fully  developed  course  in  mechanical  drawing  given  in 
both  of  the  high  schools.  It  is  very  closely  related  with  the 
work  in  the  shops.  During  the  past  year  mechanical  drawing 
has  been  introduced  into  the  seventh  or  highest  grade  in  the 
elementary  school,  and  is  being  developed  in  connection  with  the 
manual  training  work  of  the  boys.  This  elementary  course  needs 
to  be  under  the  full  control  of  the  manual  training  department 
rather  than  a  general  elementary  arts  department.  It  is  not 
art  primarily,  although  the  aesthetic  considerations  of  design 
should  enter  fully.  It  is  primarily  a  technical  shop  subject, 
needed  for  guidance  of  shop  labors,  and  should  not  under  any 
circumstances  risk  divorce  from  the  shop  by  putting  it  in  the 
hands  of  another  department.  For  the  girls  of  the  seventh  grade 
the  work  should  be  different  from  that  of  the  boys  and  directed 
by  the  household  arts  department. 

Other  technical  matters  are  mathematics  and  science.  In 
the  elementary  grades  most  of  the  elementary  science  that  should 
be  taught  has  not  yet  been  developed.  It  should  be  taken  in 
hand,  however.  Perhaps  most  of  the  arithmetic  needed  by 
mechanics  is  given  in  the  arithmetic  course.  In  the  high  school 
the  boys  in  training  for  mechanical  occupations  are  compelled 
to  take  two  and  one-half  years  of  algebra  and  demonstrational 
geometry,  and  two  years  of  any  science  that  they  may  happen 
to  choose.  There  are  no  regulations  that  will  keep  them  from 
choosing  zoology  and  botany,  neither  of  which  can  be  of  any 
particular  vocational  service.  If  they  choose  physics  and  chem- 
istry, many  things  will  be  introduced  that  are  of  service;  many 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 45 

things,  that  can  never  be  of  any  service ;  many  things  needed  are 
not  introduced ;  and  all  of  it  is  given  out  of  relation  to  the  practi- 
cal situations  into  which  science  enters.  While  all  students  should 
have  general  preliminary  over-views  in  perhaps  most  or  all  of 
the  usual  high  school  sciences,  when  it  comes  to  the  detailed  in- 
tensive work  of  the  sort  which  one  does  when  one  gives  a  full 
year  to  a  science,  most  of  this  should  take  a  definite  functional 
point  of  view.  If  we  were  to  say  that  the  science  as  now  taught 
possesses  fifty  percent  value  for  the  boys  in  mechanical  train- 
ing, we  should  be  perhaps  sufficiently  liberal  in  our  estimate. 
The  science  work  for  these  boys  needs  to  be  completely  over- 
hauled and  reorganized. 

On  the  side  of  the  algebra  and  geometry  for  mechanics, 
something  can  be  said ;  especially  for  the  geometry.  Most  of 
the  necessary  geometric  relations  should  be  developed  in  the 
mechanical  drawing  classes  rather  than  in  the  demonstrational 
geometry  classes.  After  deducting  this  part  it  is  probable  that 
the  high  school  mathematics  as  at  present  organized  is,  most  of 
it,  of  relatively  low  value  even  for  mechanics.  If  they  reach 
that  level  of  the  work  when  they  use  handbooks,  formulae,  and 
need  to  make  algebraic  reductions  of  these  formulae,  then  they 
need  some  algebra.  All  that  they  need,  however,  for  this  work 
can  be  taught  in  half  a  year.  The  other  year  represents  waste, 
—unless  they  have  decided  to  go  on  to  a  technological  institu- 
tion where  the  shop  work  will  require  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
mathematics.  For  such  relatively  few  individuals  naturally  the 
high  school  ought  to  give  the  preliminary  portions  of  such 
higher  mathematics.  Because  a  few  need  a  thing  is  no  excuse 
for  the  city's  forcing  it  upon  all.  To  take  an  exactly  parallel 
case,  it  would  be  pretty  blind  management  that  forced  a  full 
course  in  shorthand  upon  every  student  in  the  high  school  simply 
because  a  minor  portion  of  them  need  it.  For  those  boys  whose 
education  is  ended  at  the  high  school  stage,  and  who  intend  to 
enter  mechanical  industry,  it  is  a  perfectly  safe  estimate  that  the 
waste  in  the  high  school  mathematics  is  not  less  than  fifty  per- 
cent. 


46 _  CHAPTER  III. 

Mathematics  for  mechanics,  and  science  for  mechanics, 
need  to  be  developed  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  school  has 
developed  drawing  and  design  for  mechanics.  In  this  connection 
there  is  a  sound  educational  principle  that  needs  to  be  stated: 
The  department  which  is  responsible  for  the  practical  labors  em- 
ployed in  vocational  training  should  be  responsible  for  the  teach- 
ing of  that  mathematics,  science,  drawing  and  design,  etc.,  that 
is  concerned  in  the  guidance  of  those  labors.  In  the  ultimate  vo- 
cational analysis  it  is  the  head-work  that  is  more  important 
than  the  hand-work.  The  vocational  department  should  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  head-work  of  the  vocation  as  well  as  the  hand- 
work of  the  vocation.  If  delegated  to  general  workers,  it  should 
be  in  the  sense  that  there  are  certain  teachers  who  do  work  for 
different  vocational  departments,  but  who  while  working  for  any 
particular  department  will  take  the  point  of  view  fully  of 
that  department.  A  teacher  of  mathematics,  for  example,  might 
be  sufficiently  versatile  to  take  the  point  of  view  of  the  com- 
mercial department  while  teaching  commercial  arithmetic  to 
commercial  students ;  to  take  the  point  of  view  of  mechanics 
when  teaching  mathematics  to  prospective  mechanical  workers ; 
to  take  the  point  of  view  of  household  workers  when  teaching 
the  necessary  mathematics  to  these;  to  take  the  civic  point  of 
view  when  teaching  the  mathematical  and  economic  relationships 
of  civic  problems.  The  principle  would  apply  in  the  same  man- 
ner to  the  teaching  of  art  and  design,  of  science,  and  of  social 
studies. 

On  the  side  of  social  studies  in  the  training  for  mechanical 
vocations,  the  schools  are  doing  practically  nothing.  The  study 
of  labor  conditions  as  these  are  found  distributed  geographically 
over  the  surface  of  the  globe,  or  as  they  have  been  historically 
developed  during  the  past  two  or  three  centuries,  is  not  given. 
There  should  be,  however,  a  strong  and  fully  developed  course 
in  Industrial  History.  The  subject  is  very  large,  very  interest- 
ing and  highly  profitable,  in  this  age  of  industrial  misunder- 
standing, when  the  workers  need  to  know  the  basis  of  industrial 
democracy.  There  should  also  be  an  equally  full  course  in  in- 
dustrial geography,  showing  the  industrial  stresses  and  strains 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 47 

of  the  present.  These  two  studies  would  necessarily  include 
most  of  the  industrial  problems  faced  by  workers  in  the  field  of 
mechanical  industry,  and  faced  by  the  community  in  general  in 
the  regulation  of  industry.  Some  of  the  things  to  be  covered  in 
such  social  vocational  studies  are :  the  development  of  mechnical 
inventions,  the  development  of  the  factory  system,  the  growth  of 
corporations,  labor  organizations,  industrial  insurance,  employ- 
er's liability,  the '  relation  of  wages  to  production,  etc.  More 
specifically  it  should  take  up  the  growth  of  the  manufacture 
of  steel,  of  lumber,  of  furniture,  the  growth  of  railroads,  railroad 
regulation,  etc.,  etc.  If  the  thing  looks  difficult  as  compared  with 
the  safe  and  lazy  teaching  of  the  labor  struggles  of  ancient 
Rome  between  plebian  and  patrician,  it  is  largely  because  we 
have  not  yet  collected  for  our  use,  a  proper  body  of  informational 
materials  to  be  used. 

On  the  side  of  practical  application  certain  further  develop- 
ments seem  desirable.  The  carpentry  classes  might  take  care 
of  certain  portions  of  the  building  repair  and  building  construc- 
tion on  the  school  grounds.  The  school  board  should  never  hire 
work  done  when  it  can  be  done  by  pupils  in  training  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  Repairs  to  buildings  and  equipment,  for  ex- 
ample, last  year  amounted  to  over  $20,000.  In  looking  over  the 
records  of  the  superintendent  of  buildings  and  grounds,  one  finds 
such  items  as  the  following:  New  fence  needed  south  of  front 
yard.  Calcimining  needed  in  the  north  corridor.  Black-boards 
need  to  be  re-slated.  Walks  are  needed  around  the  old  build- 
ing. Inside  blinds  in  need  of  repair.  Fence  should  be  built  upon 
the  west  side.  Walls  of  class-rooms  should  be  re-tinted.  Desks 
and  shades  are  in  need  of  repair.  Fences  need  to  be  re-set. 
Putting  up  new  black-boards.  Repairing  plaster  in  Room  No.  5. 
Fixing  the  cellar  so  water  will  not  seep  in.  Re-varnishing 
the  school  seats  and  desks.  Twelve  yard  fences  are  needed  very 
much.  Repair  of  window  casings.  Glass  needed  for  windows 
and  transoms.  Need  a  ladder  for  trimming  trees.  Need  a  new 
and  higher  fence.  Trees  need  trimming.  Bat  entrances  should 
be  stopped  in  both  buildings.  Fences  need  re-painting.  Two 
new  windows  need  to  be  opened  in  the  small  buildings.  Doors 


48 CHAPTER  III. 

need  repairing  and  re-painting.  Screens  are  needed  for  the 
south  rooms.  Ward-robe  dqor  and  Venetian  blinds  in  need  of 
repair.  Need  a  map  cabinet  in  the  upper  hall.  A  gate  is  needed 
t  j  the  boys  yard.  Repairs  to  curb  and  to  the  iron  fence.  Window 
cords  need  replacing.  Doors  needed  for  the  toilet.  All  wooden 
buildings  need  painting.  Latches  and  locks  in  all  buildings  need 
attention.  Cement  floors  should  be  painted.  Screens  for  toilets 
should  be  higher.  Hallway  floors  should  be  re-laid.  Porch 
needs  to  be  re-built.  Need  new  outbuilding.  Double  desks 
should  be  cut  in  two.  Repair  of  teacher's  desk  and  two  chairs. 
Leaky  window  casings  need  attention.  Tool  sheds  should  be  en- 
larged. Need  161  feet  of  new  black-board.  Steps  need  repair. 
New  ceiling  in  cloak-rooms  of  old  buildings.  Picture  moulding 
needed  in  the  main  building.  Mouldings  on  black-boards  need 
painting,  etc.,  etc. 

Out  of  so  great  wealth  of  opportunity,  the  shop  department 
ought  to  be  able  to  find  certain  things  that  can  be  done  for 
training  purposes.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  always,  however, 
that  the  primary  ends  of  using  this  fundamental  practical  labor 
is  training, — training  to  understanding  and  appreciation  of  struc- 
tural matters,  more  than  training  for  skill.  Such  work  cannot 
be  educationally  justified  except  as  it  is  filled  as  full  as  possible 
with  the  intellectual  and  aesthetic  content  of  mechanical  draw- 
ing, structural  science,  structural  art  and  design,  structural 
mathematics,  etc.  The  head-training,  so  to  speak,  must  loom 
larger  than  the  hand-training.  The  hand-training,  however,  is 
a  necessary  foundation  for  the  head-training.  The  two  must  go 
together.  Mind-training  cannot  be  solidly  accomplished  except 
as  one's  feet  are  kept  on  the  ground  of  practical  reality. 

Here  again  we  must  mention  that  labor  organizations  should 
very  carefully  consider  the  entire  situation  before  making  objec- 
tion to  valid  educational  policy.  Understanding  and  appreciation 
of  and  desire  for  proper  housing  conditions  constitute  the  source 
of  prosperity  to  the  building  trades.  So  long  as  people  are 
ignorant  or  unappreciative  or  satisfied  with  poor  housing  con- 
ditions, they  will  have  little  work  to  give  to  the  building  trades. 
When  they  have  placed  high  their  standards  of  housing  condi- 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 49 

tions,  they  will  have  much  work  to  give  to  the  building  trades 
In  proportion  as  this  appreciation  exhibits  itself  in  the  building 
of  a  more  attractive  city,  the  more  will  San  Antonio  thrive  as  a 
city  of  homes,  and  the  more  will  the  building  trades  thrive.  For 
building  trades  organizations  to  prohibit  the  training  that  will 
create  a  higher  type  of  building  demand  for  the  sake  of  the 
more  immediate  profits  is  like  killing  the  goose  that  laid  the 
golden  egg. 

If  it  is  objected  that  students  cannot  do  good  enough  work, 
it  must  be  observed  that  if  their  work  is  not  good  enough  for  the 
schools,  then  they  are  not  sufficiently  educated  to  turn  out  into 
the  world  of  economic  industry.  Simply  their  education  is 
incomplete.  Responsibility  rests  on  the  schools  to  perfect  it. 
And  the  having  of  such  real  work  to  do  offers  the  best  possible 
educational  opportunity.  The  school  city  may  also  object 
that  such  work  is  slow.  If  well-done,  it  usually  is.  The  city 
must  exercise  foresight,  and  plan  a  long  way  ahead.  Educa- 
tional opportunities  must  not  be  thrown  away  merely  because  it 
i-s  easier  to  throw  them  away  than  to  utilize  them.  Such  action 
is  an  evasion  of  responsibility,  and  done  merely  because  the 
work  would  be  difficult.  It  is  difficult,  it  is  true.  The  world 
presents  no  tasks  more  difficult  than  those  of  real  education. 
To  direct  a  group  of  embryo  workmen,  using  valuable  material 
that  must  not  be  wasted,  turning  out  a  product  that  is  to  be 
permanent,  intellectualizing  all  the  processes  as  the  work  pro- 
ceeds so  as  to  build  at  the  same  time  permanent  educational 
structures  within  the  boys,  so  to  speak — all  this  constitutes 
a  form  of  labor  immensely  more  difficult  than  the  labors  of 
the  usual  construction  foreman  who  is  looking  to  but  one-half 
as  much  product  and  is  getting  that  half  from  men  already 
trained.  If  the  community  is  wise,  however,  it  is  not  going 
to  permit  our  profession  to  shirk  responsibility  merely  because 
it  is  difficult.  It  will  not  permit  us  to  palm  off  a  combination 
of  book-work  and  play-shop  work  as  "just  as  good,"  when  really 
it  is  an  inferior  and  ineffective  substitute. 


50 CHAPTER  III. 

GARDENING,  AGRICULTURE,  ETC. 

Texas  is  and  of  necessity  must  always  be  primarily  an 
agricultural  state.  The  prosperity  of  the  cities  will  always 
be  dependent  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  agriculture  of  the 
region  which  they  serve  as  distributing  centers.  A  moderate 
fraction  of  San  Antonio  people  at  the  present  time  are  gardeners 
or  agriculturists ;  and  there  must  be  another  considerable  num- 
ber in  the  schools  who  will  leave  the  city  and  enter  into  such 
occupations.  For  social  or  community  co-operation  between 
city  and  country,  it  is  highly  desirable  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  in  an  agricultural  region  should  have  some  appreciation 
and  understanding  of  those  labors  and  those  conditions  upon 
which  they  are  ultimately  dependent.  A  further  reason  for 
teaching  gardening  in  the  city  schools  is  the  fact  that  the  City 
of  San  Antonio  is  and  always  ought  to  be,  for  obvious  reasons, 
spread  rather  sparsely  over  the  city  area,  with  large  intervening 
spaces  given  over  to  grass  and  trees  and  shrubbery. 

City  of  homes  is  San  Antonio;  and  upon  its  success  in 
being  an  attractive  city  of  homes  must  in  large  measure  depend 
its  future  prosperity,  with  its  delightful  winter  climate,  its 
perennial  green  in  garden  and  park,  and  with  its  never-ceasing 
breezes  during  the  warmer  months,  the  city  is  sure  to  be  sought 
in  ever-increasing  numbers  by  a  class  of  people  of  the  type  who 
now  spend  their  winters  and  their  years  of  retirement  so  fully 
in  Florida  and  California.  Success  in  this  respect  depends  upon 
the  city's  presenting  an  attractive  appearance  throughout.  Much 
of  the  city  does  not  now  present  a  face  of  this  character,  for  the 
reason  that  the  yards,  the  gardens,  the  vacant  lots,  the  strips 
of  green  along  the  streets,  the  trees,  the  shrubbery,  etc.,  have, 
over  large  areas,  been  neglected,  and  have  been  permitted  to 
remain  in  an  unsightly  condition.  In  a  city  of  such  promise,  in 
the  case  of  things  which  could  be  so  easily  corrected,  a  vigorous 
campaign  of  education  is  needed.  The  results  to  the  city  can- 
not but  pay  for  the  expense  many  times  over.  Where  nature  is 
herself  so  bountiful  and  beneficent  a  relatively  small  amount 
of  labor  on  man's  part  often  brings  forth  results  of  an  incom- 
mensurably  large  character. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 51 

The  need  of  such  a  campaign  is  at  present  being  voiced 
by  the  San  Antonio  Real  Estate  Exchange.  The  realty  men 
have  recently  been  discussing  the  organization  of  vacant-lot 
clubs  such  as  are  now  found  in  numerous  cities.  There  is  no 
reason,  they  say,  why  San  Antonio  should  not  be  the  first 
Texas  city  to  organize  for  a  move  of  this  kind.  To  quote  from 
an  article  in  one  of  the  local  papers : 

"Minneapolis,  Minn.,  is  dotted  with  gardens  until  the 
vegetable  peddler  is  finding  it  difficult  to  stay  in  business. 
Long  stretches  of  vacant  property,  high  in  grass  and  weeds  and 
littered  with  tin  cans,  rusty  stove-pipes  and  general  refuse  of 
the  neighborhood,  are  not  in  evidence  there.  The  city  authorities 
are  behind  the  movement  for  gardens.  Minneapolis  is  rapidly 
being  transformed  into  a  city  of  flowers. 

"San  Antonio  has  many  advantages  over  Minneapolis. 
Mild  climate  here  makes  flowers  and  shrubs  flourish  nearly  the 
year  round.  One  rule  of  the  vacant  lot  club  is  that  the  first 
four  or  five  feet  of  a  lot  be  planted  in  flowers  or  shrubs.  Beyond 
that  practically  anything  can  be  grown  in  the  way  of  vegetables, 
etc." 

"The  importance  of  the  garden  in  the  income  of  the  family 
is  great,"  said  government  expert  Hand.  "There  is  no  invest- 
ment of  the  same  time  and  labor  which  will  pay  greater  cash 
dividends  than  the  home  garden,  and  every  family  can  have  one. 
The  returns  in  better  health,  in  outdoor  exercise  in  man's  most 
ancient  employment  and  from  a  food  supply  made  better  by  the 
addition  of  the  right  vegetables  are  in  addition  to  a  considerable 
monthly  saving  of  family  expense." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Texas  Industrial  Congress  in  a  letter 
to  the  San  Antonio  Real  Estate  Exchange  announces : 

"It  is  our  intention  to  offer  approximately  $500  in  cash 
prizes  for  the  best  results  in  school  gardening,  and  the  same 
amount  for  results  by  individuals.  Contestants  will  probably 
bo  required  to  cultivate  not  less  than  three  vegetables;  though 
they  may  cultivate  as  many  more  as  they  desire.  There  will 


52 CHAPTER  III. 

be  no  restrictions  as  to  the  size  of  the  garden  plots.  This  will 
enable  boys  and  girls  to  make  use  of  back  yards  no  matter  how 
small,  as  well  as  of  vacant  lots. 

"It  is  hoped  that  the  schools  generally  will  take  an  active 
part  in  this  work,  and  that  each  one  will  make  an  entry  in  the 
school  garden  contest.  Then  we  want  if  possible  to  have  the 
pupils  in  these  schools  make  individual  entries  of  home  gardens 
of  their  own,  so  they  may  make  practical  application  of  the  in- 
formation and  lessons  in  gardening  learned  at  school.  Super- 
vision and  inspection  of  the  work  done  will  be  had  as  far  as 
possible  through  teachers  and  school  superintendents." 

Experience  teaches  that  the  fundamental  gardening  work 
needed  for  training  does  not  transfer  easily  to  the  school 
premises.  The  school-garden  is  not  usually  very  successful. 
Generally  there  is  too  little  space  for  individual  gardens  that 
are  large  enough  for  the  pupils  to  take  seriously.  In  the  spring 
they  are  too  much  like  play-gardens;  during  the  summer  they 
grow  up  with  weeds ;  and  the  work  too  often  comes  to  naught. 
They  are  necessarily  more  or  less  exposed;  and  when  the  work 
is  well  done  and  they  are  successful,  they  are  so  often  ravaged 
by  vandals,  which  destroys  the  pupil's  interest.  The  school 
garden  probably  has  a  place  only  for  demonstration  and  labora- 
tory purposes,  except  in  so  far  as  the  gardening  relates  to  the 
permanent  decorative  arrangements  of  the  school  grounds  in  the 
way  of  flowers  and  shubbery.  These  latter  naturally  should  be 
planned,  planted  and  cared  for  by  the  children  themselves  for 
educational  purposes.  This  opportunity  should  not  be  thrown 
away  by  giving  it  over  to  the  janitor.  Outside  of  this  school 
landscape  gardening  which  also  should  be  used  largely  for  de- 
monstration purposes,  perhaps  only  a  very  small  school  garden 
is  needed. 

The  fundamental  aspects  of  the  garden  training  should 
be  at  the  homes.  There  is  plenty  of  space.  San  Antonio  aver- 
ages only  five  individuals  to  the  acre.  The  city  is  not  densely 
populated.  Houses  are  well  removed  from  each  other,  and  back 
yards,  side  yards,  front  yards,  sufficient  for  flowers,  shrubbery 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION 53 

and  vegetables  are  the  rule  everywhere.     There  is  no  lack  of 
opportunity  for  training  in  gardening. 

The  plan  of  work  to  be  pursued  may  well  be  something 
like  the  following :  The  schools  should  take  up  the  task  of  land- 
scape gardening  for  the  school  premises.  The  art,  science,  and 
physical  training  departments  should  lead  in  the  work ;  the  art 
department  to  take  care  of  design  and  aesthetic  effects ;  the 
science  department  to  take  care  of  the  technical,  plant-growth 
considerations ;  and  the  physical  education  department  to  see 
that  the  gardening  does  not  encroach  unduly  upon  the  necessarily 
large  play  spaces  of  the  school  grounds  and  to  see  that  the 
shrubbery  and  trees  are  not  planted  so  as  to  obstruct  the  light 
of  the  windows.  The  schools  would  need  to  study  and  experiment 
as  to  the  kinds  of  flowers  and  shubbery  and  trees  that  can  be 
profitably  grown  in  San  Antonio  for  the  purpose.  They  should 
search  everywhere  through  the  flora  of  milder  climates  so  as 
to  formulate  as  long  a  list  of  possibilities  as  can  be  found. 
This  is  largely  a  matter  for  the  science  teachers.  While  this  is 
being  done  the  classes  in  the  art  department  will  be  designing 
the  aesthetic  arrangements  to  be  employed  in  the  school  grounds, 
— along  the  walks,  in  the  corners  of  the  yard,  along  the  fences, 
arbors,  trellises,  hedges,  etc.  It  is  a  rich  field  for  the  teaching 
of  applied  art.  Finally  the  school  will  have  a  small  kitchen 
garden  in  which  will  be  raised  as  large  a  variety  of  vegetables 
as  can  profitably  be  grown  in  the  San  Antonio  region.  Both  the 
landscape  gardening  and  the  kitchen  garden  will  be  taken  care 
of  co-operatively  by  the  classes  and  not  divided  up  into  little 
individual  portions  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  school  gardens. 
The  purpose  of  all  of  the  school  gardening  is  but  to  give  the 
preliminary  ideas  and  suggestions  for  the  home  gardening  which 
is  to  constitute  the  real  training  in  the  matter.  The  school 
garden  suggests  what  can  be  grown,  what  processes  have  to 
be  performed,  shows  the  best  ways  of  doing  the  work,  shows 
to  all  the  pupils  how  difficulties  are  to  be  overcome,  furnishes 
material  for  the  laboratory  work  that  needs  to  accompany  the 
teaching  of  the  gardening  science,  etc.  In  a  word,  the  school  gar- 
den is  a  small  fraction  of  the  fundamental  field  of  gardening  that 


54 CHAPTER  III. 

i:  transferred  to  the  school  to  be  used  as  a  foundation  for  the 
supplemental  training  in  the  science,  design,  and  other  matters 
of  technical  information,  which  are  then  taken  back  to  the  home 
gardens  for  that  serious  application  which  alone  accomplishes 
the  education  of  the  children.  Their  fundamental  training  must 
be  in  connection  with  these  home  gardens.  The  front  and  side 
yards  will  be  given  to  grass,  flowers,  and  shrubbery,  ideas  and 
methods  having  been  contributed  by  the  work  at  the  school. 
In  the  back  yard  or  in  the  vacant  lots  can  be  developed  the  funda- 
mental training  in  kitchen  gardening. 

Not  only  would  we  urge  the  introduction  of  this  form  of 
training  into  San  Antonio  in  very  generous  measure,  but  we  are 
willing  further  to  state  that  the  city  cannot  afford  not  to  de- 
velop such  gardening.  The  prosperity  of  the  city  depends  in 
larger  measure  than  is  the  case  with  the  majority  of  cities  upon 
its  development  into  a  city  of  flowers  and  shrubbery,  of  pleasing 
homes  and  gardens,  of  pleasant  avenues  and  parks  and  park- 
ways. The  properly  guided  labors  of  10,000  school  children 
can  accomplish  a  great  deal  immediately  on  the  side  of  home, 
street,  and  civic  beautification.  But  even  better  than  this,  the 
training  will  develop  an  appreciation  for  civic  beauty  and  an 
understanding  of  the  problems  entering  into  it;  so  that  after 
the  schools  have  turned  out  children  so  trained,  for  a  decade  or 
two  the  adult  generation  of  the  city  will  be  filled  with  men  and 
women  who  are  appreciative  of  the  possibilities  of  making  San 
Antonio,  and  of  keeping  it,  a  garden  city.  So  profuse  must  be 
the  reward  to  the  city  for  development  of  this  field  of  educational 
activity  that  the  city  ought  to  be  pretty  generous  in  developing 
the  gardening  work  of  the  schools.  Special  teachers  should 
be  employed  who  would  be  expected  to  be  in  charge  of  the  work 
twelve  months  in  the  year,  teaching  at  the  schools  for  a  portion 
of  the  time  and  keeping  in  contact  with  all  of  the  home  gardens 
of  the  pupils  for  another  part  of  the  time.  Where  the  work  is 
being  wisely  developed  the  immediate  results  are  more  than 
enough  to  pay  all  of  the  bills,  not  to  mention  the  ultimate  and 
abiding  results  for  a  city  in  having  its  population  appreciative 
and  intelligent  in  the  matter. 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION  ______  55 

In  connection  with  the  discussion  of  gardening  teaching 
as  a  basis  for  city  improvement  one  should  also  consider  the 
desirability  of  introducing  instruction  in  cement  construction  and 
of  introducing  such  practical  matters  as  the  building  of  fences 
into  the  carpentry  course  of  the  elementary  and  high  schools. 
The  city  cannot  be  highly  attractive  during  the  winter  until 
it  is  possible  to  walk  along  the  streets  and  to  enter  the  dwell- 
ings, from  almost  anywhere  without  wading  through  mud  of  un- 
certain depth  and  of  a  rather  remarkable  tenacity.  The  general 
population  appears  to  need  some  teaching  as  to  the  possibilities 
of  brick,  cement,  and  asphalt  construction.  Improvement  can 
come  only  as  appreciation  and  understanding  are  developed.  It 
can  come  economically  only  as  people  are  informed  as  to  costs, 
materials,  methods  of  work,  which  will  mean  the  ability  on  the 
part  of  large  numbers  to  build  their  own  home  walks  of  brick 
or  cement.  The  schools  need  to  understand  the  desirability  of 
giving  short  intensive  courses  like  cement  construction  using 
the  opoprtunities  at  the  school  for  building  school  walks  or 
repairing  walks  for  demonstration  purposes  in  the  way  of  ma- 
terials, methods,  etc.,  and  then  under  the  direction  of  the  shop 
teacher,  care  being  taken  that  no  mistakes  be  made,  nor  material 
wasted,  let  the  boy's  education  be  continued  in  such  home  cement 
construction  as  happens  to  be  needed.  If  labor  unions  will  con- 
sider the  matter  in  all  of  its  bearings  they  will  find  that  they 
have  more  to  gain  than  to  lose  from  such  a  policy.  The  amount 
that  can  be  done  for  training  purposes  is  necessarily  relatively 
small.  The  development  of  an  understanding  and  appreciation 
of  such  work  in  the  community  through  education  will  create 
a  much  larger  demand  for  such  work  on  the  part  of  the  trades 
as  more  than  to  overbalance  the  amount  that  can  be  done  for 
training  purposes ;  and  moreover,  located  as  San  Antonio  is, 
increase  in  the  city's  attractiveness  through  improvement  means 
city  growth  and  increased  labors  for  the  trades  organizations. 
Further,  it  is  the  sons  of  the  tradesmen  who  will  most  benefit 
from  this  training. 

Portions  of  San  Antonio  are  not  attractive  because  of  the 
nature  of  the  fences  about  the  usually  fairly  generous  home  lots. 


56 CHAPTER  III. 

In  most  cases  the  fences  about  the  schools  are  altogether  un- 
attractive in  design  and  finish ;  and  often  are  in  a  state  of  dis- 
reputable disrepair.  In  a  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  school 
board  it  was  found  that  the  board  had  taken  the  position  in  cer- 
tain cases  that  the  classes  in  carpentry  in  the  school  should  under- 
take the  repair  of  certain  of  the  school  fences.  Looked  at  from 
every  point  of  view  the  suggestion  is  a  thoroughly  sound  one. 
In  return  for  providing  accommodations,  equipment,  tools,  teach- 
ers, etc.,  for  training  in  carpentry,  the  board  should  require  that 
the  classes  in  this  subject  should  take  care  of  as  much  of  the  car- 
pentry repair  work  on  fences  and  buildings  as  can  be  done  for 
training  purposes.  The  art  department  in  connection  with  the 
mechanical  drawing  department  should  take  the  matter  of  fence 
design  in  hand.  The  possibilities  on  the  side  of  attractive  de- 
sign are  very  numerous.  As  a  field  of  practical  training  relating 
to  the  aesthetic  aspects  of  construction  work,  it  offers  large  op- 
portunities to  a  well-informed  art  department.  After  the  designs 
are  made,  the  shop  department  should  take  up  the  work  of  carry- 
ing out  the  labors  on  the  side  of  cement  foundations,  cement 
posts,  the  metal  work,  the  woodwork,  the  finishing,  the  painting, 
etc.  This  work  done  at  the  schools  should  be,  however,  regarded 
simply  as  a  small  piece  of  the  large  fundamental  training  oppor- 
tunity that  has  been  transferred  to  the  school  premises  for  edu- 
cational purposes.  It  is  the  home  fence  building,  fence  repair, 
etc.,  that  should,  so  far  as  possible,  be  looked  upon  as  constitut- 
ing the  basic  portion  of  the  training.  The  shop  teachers  need, 
therefore,  to  be  employed  for  the  twelve  months  in  the  year  and 
to  keep  in  constant  contact  with  the  home  training  labors,  in  this 
as  in  other  fields. 

Of  practical  matters,  there  is  just  one  other  thing  that  we 
would  recommend  developing  in  the  shops  of  San  Antonio 
as  early  as  conditions  will  permit,  namely,  printing.  It  is  a 
manual  training  activity  valuable  for  both  boys  and  girls.  It 
represents  a  trade  field  entered  by  both  men  and  women.  It  is 
a  fundamental  activity  that  provides  a  foundation  for  a  large 
amount  of  technical  training, — drawing  and  design,  color  re- 
lations, mathematical  computations,  practical  commercial  activi- 


EDUCATION  FOR  VOCATION      57 

ties,  composition  as  related  to  the  school  paper,  etc.  The  work 
can  be  made  to  pay  fully  for  itself.  The  press,  for  example,  can 
print  arithmetic  drill  lesson  papers,  sentences  for  grammatical 
analysis,  special  reading  exercises  used  in  the  primary  grades, 
outlines  of  work  for  history,  geography,  science,  etc. ;  manuals, 
recipes,  etc.,  for  shop  kitchen  and  sewing  room ;  invitations  and 
programs  relating  to  social  functions,  etc. 

Where  are  the  schools  to  find  time  for  all  this  expansion 
of  training  both  technical  and  social.  It  is  to  be  had  by  eliminat- 
ing present  waste.  In  previous  paragraphs  we  have  eluded  to 
waste  in  the  teaching  of  certain  portions  of  mathematics,  science, 
and  social  studies.  In  later  chapters  we  shall  point  to  the  desira- 
bility of  eliminating  certain  wastes  on  the  side  of  English  gram- 
mar, foreign  languages,  history  and  literature.  It  must  be  re- 
membered too  that  in  proportion  as  education  Is  made  active,  it 
can  be  made  more  effective.  When  fully  organized,  students 
can  go  over  the  ground  morfe  rapidly  and  the  results  once  at- 
tained are  relatively  permanent,  and  less  in  need  of  reviews  and 
drills  and  examination  wastes.  These  are  largely  necessitated 
by  the  unrelated  book  teaching.  Also  waste  due  to  the  short 
school  day  and  the  short  school  week  in  the  upper  grades  and 
high  school  can  be  utilized  when  work  can  be  made  less  sedentary 
and  therefore  healthy  and  stimulating,  socially  and  physically. 
There  are  serious  problems  involved  in  the  introduction  of  such 
training;  but  the  question  of  finding  the  time  is  not  one  of  these. 


58 CHAPTER  IV. 

v  Chapter  IV. 

EDUCATION    FOR    CITIZENSHIP. 

Reading,   writing,   arthmetic,   and   the   preliminary   under- 
standing of  geography  and  history  are  necessary  in  every  de- 
partment of  human  affairs,  citizenship  among  the  rest.     So  far 
as  San  Antonio  is  taking  care  of  these  primordial  systems  of 
knowledge,  she  is  taking  care  of  the  training  for  citizenship. 
For  the  moment,  however,  we  take  all  these  matters  for  granted. 
/Our  purpose  here  is  to  examine  those  elements  of  education  that 
I  are  chosen,  or  that  should  be  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  training 
one  to  the  understanding  of  the  problems,  duties,  rights,  and  re- 
\sponsibilities  of  the  citizen. 

The  basic  training  for  citizenship  has  always  been  through 
observation  and  participation.  In  the  early  days  of  our  republic 
this  was  sufficiently  simple.  Wealth  was  not  abundant.  The  citi- 
zens therefore  were  relatively  equal  in  their  political  power. 
Communities  were  small.  It  was  possible  for  everybody  to  be 
acquainted  with  what  was  going  on  in  the  community. 

Public  opinion  and  the  simple  governmental  machinery  of 
that  day  brought  about  a  reasonable  efficiency  in  governmental 
matters.  Any  wide-awake  man  or  woman  received  most  of  the 
necessary  civic  training  through  active  observation  and  participa- 
tion in  the  general,  community  affairs.  There  appeared  to  be 
nothing  additional  for  the  schools  to  do.  For  this  very  good 
reason  little  or  nothing  was  done. 

v<Bnr~tocIay,  civic  conditions  are  changed.     And  the  work  of 

yfne  schools  must  be  correspondingly  changed.    At  present,  social 

|   competing  interests  are  not  bounded  by  the  town  limits.    They 

Va_re  nation-wide.)    Their  affairs  are  so  ramifying  and  complex, 

inforTfiaTioirconcerning  social  groups  is  so  inaccessible,  that  the 

problems  relating  to  the  general  control  of  our  various  social 

classes  of  greatly  unequal  powers  are  in  fact  our  gravest  national 

problems.    In  a  democracy  where  the  ultimate  solution  of  all  of 

these  problems  must  grow  naturally  out  of  public  enlightenment, 

there  must  fjrst_b£public  enlightenment.  The  task  of  the  schools 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 


is  to  take  up  our  thousand  problems  one  by  one,  and  round  out  the 
information  of  our  young  citizens  concerning  each  of  them. 
Their  fundamental  education  must  sfill  be  through  observation 
and  participation  in  practical  community  affairs  ;  but  the  schools 
must  supplement  heavily. 

Here  as  in  the  vocational  field,  there  can  be  no  divorceX 
between  the  practical  fundamental  portions  of  the  training,  and  \ 
the  scholastic,  supplementary,  theoretical  portions.     One  learns   \ 
civic  and   social  co-operation  through  entering  into  those   co- 
operations.    One  best  develops  the  necessary  knowledge,  points  / 
of  view,  and  standards  of  judgment  as  one  needs  to  use  this/ 
knowledge  and  this  judgment. 

The  schools  need  to  find  as  many  .practical  civic  things 
to  do  as  they  carh^Then  in  connection  with  each  of  these,  they 
should  richly  supplement  with  information  and  social  inspiration 
from  the  fields  of  history,  geography,  economics,  industrial 
studies,  social  studies,  etc.  The  San  Antonio  schools  provide  a 
good  illustration  for  the  purpose.  Some  time^ago  a  practical 
anti-mosquito  campaign^jwa^_jm^ertaken^by_.the  community, 
enlisting  the  co-operation  of  the  children  of  the  various  schools. 
Throughout  the  city  the  children  undertook  the  tasks  of  clear- 
ing up  the  pools  of  water,  of  removing  the  tin  cans  from  vacant 
lets,  of  burning  weeds,  of  pouring  kerosene  upon  standing  water, 
screening  cisterns,  etc.,  etc.  This  elimination  of  the  mosquito 
was  undertaken  as  a  general  civic  community  task.  Through 
participation  in  it,  the  children  laid  the  fundamental  foundations 
for  education  on  this  topic.  Taking  practical  activities  as  the 
foundation  for  supplementary  studies,  the  schools  took  up  the 
science  and  the  social  aspects  of  the  problem.  In  every  school 
building  a"t  the  present  time,  except  those  just  recently  finished, 
there  is  to  be  found  a  large  wall  chart  in  color  devised  and  drawn 
by  a  student  in  the  high  school  which  shows  in  a  clear  magnified 
form  the  anatomical  characteristics  of  the  different  harmful 
species  of  mosquito.  It  shows  also  the  entire  life-history  of 
the  mosquito,  from  the  egg  through  each  stage  to  the  final 
adult  form.  The  school  library  then  contains  further  related 
science  for  the  pupils,  written  in  easy,  readable  form.  This 


6C  CHAPTER  IV. 

science  deals  with  the  nature,  life-history,  and  habits  of  mosqui- 
toes ;  with  the  nature  and  life-history  of  the  malarial  germs ;  the 
way  they  are  introduced  into  the  system  by  the  mosquitoes ;  the 
way  they  multiply ;  the  way  their  multiplication  in  the  blood 
affects  the  human  organism ;  and  the  way  in  which  these  malarial 
germs  in  the  blood  are  destroyed.  The  reading  enters  also  into 
the  geographical  and  seasonal  distribution  of  mosquitoes,  with 
modes  of  destruction,  and  methods  of  preventing  their  develop- 
ment. 

The  scholastic  aspects  of  the  training  need  to  be  carried 
beyond  the  technical,  scientific  considerations,  to  the  social  ones 
as  well.  In  connectio^i_jyjib-JJlis_jiiQS^jiiito  campaign,  the  class 
might  well  be  provided  with^statistical  facts  concerning  the  pre- 
valence of  malaria  furnished  from  recorcTs  of  health  departments. 
Then,  using  outline  maps  of  the  United  States,  they  might  very 
profitably  make  what  could  be  called  a  mosquito-malarial  map 
of  the  United  States  similar  in  technique  to  the  shaded  rainfall 
maps  found  in  the  geographies.  Such  a  map  would  show  the 
regions  of  large  danger  and  the  regions  of  little  danger.  It 
would  be  a  study  not  only  of  a  certain  civic  problem,  but  would 
also  be  a  rational  mode  of  studying  geography.  Using  an  out- 
line map  of  the  world,  it  would  be  possible  from  figures  at  hand, 
to  draw  such  a  shaded  map  of  the  world,  showing  the  regions 
of  greatest  danger  for  North  Europeans,  in  the  Amazon  River 
valley,  in  central  Africa,  etc.,  and  showing  the  regions  of  practi- 
cally no  danger  in  mountainous  regions  of  high  altitude 
and  in  the  colder  climates.  From  the  facts  at  hand,  an  advanced 
high  school  class  might  also  calculate  the  economic  losses  from 
morbidity  and  mortality  in  states  in  our  country  and  perhaps  in 
certain  foreign  countries,  thus  forcing  home  the  economical 
relations  of  imperfect  control  of  this  particular  community  prob- 
lem. 

The  social  aspects^of_the_study  could  not  be  complete  until 
if  had  been  looked  at  historically.  Malaria-carrying  mosquitoes 
have  in  fact  played  a  large  role  in  the  history  of  human  affairs. 
For  example,  in  reading  the  northern  invasions  of  Italy  during 
Medieval  and  early  Modern  time  the  most  striking  single  thing 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 61 

discernable  is  the  fact  that  no  northern  army  reaching  the  Italian 
Campania  ever  returned  home  again.  In  the  language  of  James 
Eryce,  these  armies  melted  away  as  certainly  and  as  silently  as 
the  snows  of  the  Appenines  in  summer. 

The  malaria-carrying  mosquito  did  the  work.  In  the  same 
way  can  much  of  the  history  of  southern  climates  in  their  rela- 
tions with  the  people  of  the  north  be  explained.  Thus  and  thus 
only  can  we  explain  the  uninhabitability  for  Europeans  and  the 
lack  of  development  of  central  Africa  and  central  South  America, 
Written  in  proper  human  fashion,  based  upon  a  solid  foundation 
of  fundamental  community  activities,  such  social  studies  can  be 
made  intensely  interesting  and  highly  profitable. 

This  extended  illustration  is  designed  to  show  that  in  connec- 
tion  with  the  teaching  of  any  civic  topic^there  ought  to  be : 
first,  a  series  of  practical  activities  in  wrhicri^those  being  ed- 
ucated can  participate";' "secon^ 'TrTere  should  be  a  wealth  of  tech- 
nical, scientific  information  relating  to  such  practical  social 
activities ;  and  third,  there  sJioulpL_be_an^ equal  abundance  of 
social  information  relatingto^  the  problem.  The  thing  cannot 
be  adequately  taughTTTariy  one  of  theThree  factors  is  omitted. 
At  present  in  San  Antonio  all  three  are  mostly  omitted.  There 
is  scarcely  any  civic  teaching  done. 

Examples,  of  civic  topics  thatjDUght  to  be  taken  up  in 
this  threefoldway  in~Tr!e^crIooTs~^f  San  Antonio  are:  City 
beautification ;  city  street  paving ;  street^ clean ing:;  the  smoke 
nuisance ;  city  water  supply7~clty  milk  supply ;  the  city  food 
supplyln  genejralj_fire  losses  and  fire  insjjr^£ice_r^e^j^dty^arksj 
the  economic  value  of  birds;  the  sanitation  of  jpublic  buildings, 
schools,  churches,  theatefs,^etc. ;  vocational  survey jof_the_  city ; 
the  care  of  the  unfortunate JThe  ^pubTic^ilities  of  thejjty ;  jises 
of  vacant  lots ;  savings  banks ;  child  labor ;  municipal  social 
centers ;  the  municipal  civic  forum ;  cost  of  maintaining  each 
city  departmejrtj_crty^ult7^^"^tiunicipal  board  of  jiealth ;  the 
possible  civic _uses  of  the_^n^_A^o^nio_riyer_;  the  civic  prob- 
lems of  the  school  cj^jetc^^^etc.  These  are  only  suggestive  of 
the  kinds  of  problems  that  should  be  looked  into.  Committtees 
of  responsible  men  and  women  of  San  Antonio,  both  lay  and  pro- 


62 -• CHAPTER  IV. 

fessional,  should  draw  up  a  long  list  including  all  important 
social  problems  needed  to  be  understood  by  the  well-informed 
citizen  of  San  Antonio.  The  community  is  paying  the  money 
to  get  the  teaching  done ;  the  community  should  say,  in  as  defi- 
nite a  way  as  it  can,  what  it  wants  covered.  It  -is  scarcely  fair 
to  the  schools  to  be  set  to  the  performance  of  a  task  and  then  not 
told  what  is  wanted.  The  school  people  are  paid  to  find  out,  one 
says.  But  suppose  they  do  not?  Are  they  to  be  permitted  to 
go  on  just  as  if  they  had  done  so?  Does  not  the  responsibility 
fell  upon  their  employers  the  moment  the  school  people  fail? 

After  a  community  committee  has  formulated  a  list  of 
topics,  it  should  aid  the  schools  in  every  possible  way  to  get  the 
facts  bearing  on  each  of  them.  Mere  talk  by  the  teacher  and 
pupils  about  street  paving,  or  street  maintenance  without  any 
facts  beyond  their  casual  observations  may  add  nothing  to  what 
.all  really  know  in  the  beginning;  and  may  be — usually  is —  a 
total  waste. of  time  and  money.  There  is  needed  an  abundance 
of  technical  facts  relating  to  the  situation.  And  the  facts  must 
be  significant.  To  illustrate: 

What  has  San  Antonio  been  paying  for  the  maintenance 
of  streets?  Is  the  amount  large  or  small?  For  the  fiscal  year 
of  1912,  the  amount  paid  was  ninety-nine  cents  per  capita.  This 
fact  taken  alone  is  meaningless.  It  does  not  show  whether  high 
or  low;  whether  the  city  is  doing  well  or  ill  by  its  streets.  It 
can  be  given  meaning  by  comparison,  however.  Table  V  shows 
the  comparative  cost  per  capita  of  street  maintenance  in  southern 
cities : 

Table  V. 

Annual  Per  Capita  Expenditures  for  Street  Maintenance,  1912, 

Nashville  .$  2.79        Augusta  $  276 

Tampa   2.10         Memphis   2.04 

Houston  < 2.04         Savannah    1.71 

Atlanta   , 1.63         Dallas  1.55 

Galveston   1.54         Jacksonville   „.     1.53 

Austin   .  1.51         New  Orleans  ...  1.50 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 63 

Macon    1.43         Shreveport    1.36 

Montgomery  1.36         Mobile   1.33 

Ft.  Worth  1.17         El  Paso  , 1.10 

Muskogee    1.07         Birmingham   1.02 

SAN   ANTONIO    99        Charleston  85 

Little    Rock    63         Oklahoma   City   , 63 

With  the  facts  from  this  list  of  cities  before  a  class,  the 
ninety-nine  cents  per  capita  paid  for  street  maintenance  in  San 
Antonio  acquires  significance.  One  can  see  how  well  the  city 
is  taking  care  of  this  function,  as  compared  with  Houston,  Dal- 
las, Galveston,  Austin,  Ft.  Worth,  El  Paso,  and  other  cities. 
Or,  if  one  would  look  at  it  in  another  way,  one  can  see  the 
economy  of  San  Antonio  as  compared  with  the  wasteful  ex- 
travagance of  some  of  the  other  cities.  Naturally  the  interpre- 
tation must  square  with  the  facts ;  but  there  must  first  be  facts 
before  there  can  be  interpretation,  explanation^'  or  teaching: — 

A  second  civic  question  bearing  on  this  topic,  is :  What 
is  the  price  paid  in  each  of  these  cities  per  thousand  square 
feet  for  street  paving  of  the  type  now  going  on  in  San  Antonio  ? 
Is  San  Antonio  paying  a  high  price  per  thousand  square  feet, 
a  medium  price,  or  a  low  price,  as  compared  with  the  practice  in 
other  cities?  One  cannot  answer  until  one  has  the  facts  for 
San  Antonio,  and  for  each  of  many  other  cities.  Real  civics  of 
any  vital  worth  cannot  be  taught  the  youth  of  the  city  until 
such  facts  as  these  are  accessible.  With  solid  facts  before  one 
discussion  and  explanation  of  reasons  and  causes  can  be  made 
profitable. 

But  facts  cannot  bejnerely  gathered  out  of  the  air.  Public 
spirited  committees  of  citizens'  organizations  not  only  should 
draw  up  the  list  of  things  the  people  of  the  community  need 
to  understand,  but  they  should  actively  assist  in  gathering  the 
facts  to  be  used.  The  adult  citizens  need  the  facts  for  their' 
thinking  as  fully  as  the  schools  need  them  for  their  teaching. 
Public  spirited  men  of  the  community  can  get  great  quantities 
of  facts  that  are  relatively  inaccessible  to  the  teachers. 


64 CHAPTER  IV. 

Several  kinds  of  things  are  now  being  done  in  San  Antonio 
which  appear  to  be  designed  for  training  for  citizenship.  For- 
mal civics,  so-called,  is  taught  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventh 
grade.  One  class  visited  was  reciting  in  a  more  or  less  lifeless 
uninterested  way  upon  the  textbook.  They  gave  about  three 
minutes  to  a  discussion  of  the  functions  of  the  governor ;  then 
another  three  minutes  to  the  lieutenant-governor;  about  the 
same  length  of  time  to  the  secretary  of  state ;  and  so  on  through 
the  list  of  comptroller,  state  treasurer,  attorney-general,  and 
superintendent  of  public  instruction.  It  was  not  a  discussion  of 
these  officials  and  their  duties  as  they  are  found  in  the  State  of 
Texas,  but  a  discussion  of  these  officials  in  the  abstract  as  they 
are  found  in  states  in  general.  The  whole  thing  was  covered  in 
fourteen  minutes.  In  the  recitation  the  pupils  did  not  get  much 
of  anything  correct.  The  teacher  then  in  each  case  lectured  by 
way  of  giving  the  facts.  She  did  nothing  more  than  to  cover 
the  brief  textbook  facts.  So  far  as  the  reading  or  discussion 
touched  upon  things  which  the  pupils  knew  anything  about  at 
first  hand,  they  seemed  to  be  interested,  and  they  seemed  to  have 
ideas ;  but  most  of  the  things  covered  did  not  relate  to  anything 
within  their  experience.  After  six  more  minutes  given  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  judiciary,  the  class  was  dismissed.  The  whole 
thing  was  mostly  a  waste  of  time.  The  so-called  facts  of  the 
recitation  were  not  real  facts  for  the  students,  since  they  had  no 
real  substance.  The  pupils  get  a  necessary  preliminary  view  of 
the  governmental  mechanism.  This  is  good  so  far  as  it  goes. 
But  it  is  like  a  class  in  manual  training  that  confines  its  term's 
work  to  merely  examining  the  work  bench,  and  the  tools.  A 
necessary  step,  it  is,  but  they  must  get  much  beyond  a  mere 
preliminary  view  of  the  mechanism. 

Another  class  in  civics  was  visited  in  the  high  school.  It 
was  using  and  reciting  upon  Fiske's  Civil  Government  in  the 
United  States  as  a  textbook.  This  text  was  first  published 
'twenty-five  years  ago.  It  represents  an  outworn  and  ancient 
mode  of  civic  thought ;  and  moreover,  it  never  did  apply  in  any 
sufficient  measure  to  the  civic  problems  in  Texas,  and  almost 
not  at  all  to  the  problems  of  the  citizens  of  San  Antonio.  Fol- 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 65 

lowing  the  ancient  pattern,  the  students  were  discussing  the  vague 
abstractions  there  set  down  concerning  the  functions  of  the  presi- 
dent. The  things  discussed  were  without  substance,  without 
significance,  without  relation  to  anything  in  their  experience  or 
that  of  the  teacher  of  the  class.  They  were  discussing  it  and 
reciting  upon  it  merely  because  it  was  set  down  in  the  book. 
It  is  pseudo-supplementary  education  that  fails  of  its  purpose 
because  it  is  in  no  wise  related  to  the  fundamental  situations 
in  which  the  pupils  move  and  think  and  act.  It  looks  so  much 
like  real  education  that  everybody  seems  to  have  accepted  it  as 
such.  Let  one  compare  it,  however,  with  a  course  in  civic  train- 
ing made  up  of  civic  problems  of  the  type  referred  to  in  the 
illustration  given  above,  one  can  then  easily  distinguish  the  false 
from  the  true.  One  wonders  what  supervisory  officials  are  doing 
that  they  do  not  instantly  detect  and  set  about  correcting  such 
sham  education. 

Civic  training  in  the  schools  can  be  healthy  and  virile  only 
as  it  reflects  things  that  are  being  striven  for  by  the  civic  leaders 
of  the  community.  The  civic  work  within  the  schools  should  be 
a  part,  anjntegral,_organic :  J>art,_  of  the  totaTcTvic  striving  of  the 
community.  In  proportion  as  the  school  isolates  itself  from  the 
community  and  finds  mere  textbook  matters  of  study  that  are 
in  no  wise  related  to  the  conditions  within  the  city,  the  school 
work  drifts  from  its  proper  moorings  and  becomes  use- 
less. Only  in  proportion  as  it  keeps  its  feet  upon  the  solid  earth 
of  community  problems,  does  it  remain  educationally  worth 
while. 

In  addition  to  the  ways  mentioned,  another  method  of 
keeping  the  school  civic  work  grounded  in  reality  is  to  jnake 
the  schools,  as  fully_as  possible,  the  civic  forums  of  the  city, — 
especially  tfie  high  school^  FoFexampIe7wTien  The ;  Topic :"of "s'tfeet 
paving  is  being  considered  in  the  high  school  civics  class,  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  city  council  which  has  charge 
of  this  particular  aspect  of  civics  work  should  be  invited  to  dis- 
cuss the  whole  situation  before  the  high  school,  meeting  as  a 
body  in  the  auditorium.  When  the  subject  of  taxes  is  taken  up, 
the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  of  the  city  council,  the 


66  CHAPTER  IV. 

city  tax  collector,  the  county  tax  collector,  the  chairman  of  the 
finance  committee  of  the  school  board,  etc.,  should  be  invited 
to  discuss  the  problems  of  taxation  in  San  Antonio  before  the 
high  school  classes.  When  community  sanitation  is  the  topic, 
then  it  is  the  board  of  health  and  its  inspectors  who  have  an  op- 
portunity of  disseminating  necessary  sanitary  information.  There 
is  no  civic  function  being  performed  but  what  is  being  trusted  to 
somebody.  Those  to  whom  it  is  entrusted  are  the  ones  who  in  a 
democracy  should  feel  responsible  for  keeping  the  general  public 
enlightened  as  to  their  work.  It  is  necessary  for  their  own  effect- 
iveness, and  for  the  success  of  their  labors  in  the  community. 

The  plan  as  sketched  in  the  preceding  paragraph  is  incom- 
plete, imperfect,  and  unworkable.  If  undertaken  in  a  period 
of  zeal,  while  it  may  be  continued  for  a  while,  it  probably  can- 
not in  any  such  form  become  permanent.  The  officials  referred 
to  under  present  conditions,  will  not  and  perhaps  cannot  take  the 
matter  sufficiently  seriously.  It  may  be  done  once  in  such  a  man- 
ner; but  there  is  likely  to  be  little  thought  of  the  continuance 
of  the  matter  year  after  year,  as  a  regular  portion  of  the  duties 
of  the  office.  There  is  a  feeling  of  the  artificiality  and  the  insub- 
stantiability  of  the  thing.  This  is  because  of  the  relative  artifi- 
ciality and  isolation  of  school  activities  as  at  present  conducted. 
Present  teaching  is  so  much  in  a  vacuum  that  live  men  cannot 
seem  to  breathe  naturally  in  any  such  atmosphere.  The  informa- 
tion that  these  men  have  should  be  for  the  whole  community. 
Yet  here  within  the  school  we  have  separated  out  only  the  chil- 
dren and  youth  of  the  community.  Those  to  whom  they  should 
give  it  naturally  and  normally  as  a  part  of  their  serious  func- 
tions, namely  the  adult  leaders  of  the  community,  are  not  pres- 
ent at  the  school  when  these  talks  are  made.  These  officials  are 
not  reporting  to  the  men  who  are  holding  them  responsible,  but 
are  reporting  only  to  the  children  in  a  comparatively  artificial 
situation.  Now  as  a  matter  of  fact  these  officials  referred  to  can- 
not talk  to  the  youth  of  the  city  in  normal  fashion  if  they  are 
talking  only  to  the  youth  of  the  city.  They  can  talk  normally  to 
the  youth  of  the  city  only  as  they  are  addressing  the  adult  leaders 
of  the  city,  their  peers,  those  to  whom  they  owe  their  responsibil- 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 


ity.  Then  as  they  talk  to  this  adult  portion  of  the  community  the 
children  can  hear  and  in  this  way  can  learn  in  a  normal  fashion. 
Youth  must  learn  in  large  measure  not  from  being  addressed 
directly,  but  from  listening  to  adulthood  talking  to  adulthood. 
It  is  for  youth  one  of  the  normal  modes  of  participation  in  adult 
affairs. 

This  being  the  case,  civic  education  demands  that  there 
be  meetings  of  adults  where  trie  youth  of  the  city  can  attend, 
which  are  being  addressed  by  the  members  of  the  board  of  health, 
the  chairman  of  the  council  committees,  the  officials  of  the  county 
and  city,  the  leaders  of  every  civic  movement  within  the  com- 
munity, etc.  The  high  school  and  every  school  is  in  need  of  an 
auditorium  large  enough  to  seat  at  one  time  a  large  part  of  the 
school  and  a  large  part  of  the  community.  Here  should  meet 
regularly  City  Improvement  Associations,  Civic  Leagues,  Par- 
ent's Organizations,  etc.,  to  be  addressed  by  leaders  of  community 
labors.  The  children  and  youth  should  then  attend  and  listen 
tc  these  discussions  in  as  full  a  degree  as  possible  as  a  part 
of  their  necessary  education. 

Auditoriums  for  such  purposes  cost  money.  But  they  can 
be  paid  for  out  of  the  savings  to  the  city  that  can  come  from  such 
civic  enlightenment. 

When  the  things  above  recommended  are  accomplished, 
the  fundamental  civic  activities  of  the  community  will  have  been 
brought  into  such  close  relation  with  the  necessary  scholastic 
activities  that  the  latter  cannot  well  drift  from  their  moorings 
into  mere  irrelevancy  and  abstract  nothingness.  The  debating 
societies  will  have  something  to  debate  that  will  be  taken  seri- 
ously and  serve  as  the  centers  for  the  organization  of  large  masses 
of  technical,  economical,  historical,  and  geographical  facts.  The 
public  speaking  work  can  be  given  vitality  by  giving  it  serious 
aims.  The  composition  classes  can  deal  with  the  solid  realities 
of  the  real  world  and  less  with  the  mere  imaginative  trifles. 
The  comparisons  of  city  with  city,  of  state  with  state,  that  will 
be  made  necessary  by  such  work  will  give  the  geography  a 
vitality  that  at  present  it  does  not  possess.  And  the  history  in 
showing  how  these  various  problems  have  grown  up  in  San 


68 CHAPTER  IV. 

Antonio,  in  Texas,  in  other  states,  in  other  countries,  in  other 
ages  of  the  world,  and  how  they  have  been  solved  under  differ- 
ent conditions, — the  history  can  be  given  vitality  by  giving  it 
a  useful  work  to  do.  At  present  so  much  of  the  history  and  geo- 
graphy hangs  limp  and  loose  and  worthless  merely  because  it 
consists  of  tissues  of  academic  abstractions,  related  to  nothing 
in  man's  present  world. 

Mathematics  too,  can  be  given  vitality.  Economics  is  a 
branch  of  applied  mathematics ;  and  in  so  far  as  civic  problems 
are  developed  fully,  they  must  be  developed  on  their  economic 
side.  The  street  maintenance  illustration  shows  that  the  basis  of 
facts  required  for  understanding  must  be  of  a  mathematical  sort. 
The  same  is  equally  true  of  taxation,  insurance,  management  of 
public  utilities,  and  of  every  other  civic  topic  that  may  be  studied. 
Civic  teaching  on  its  economic  side  must  be  as  mathematical 
a  study  as  engineering;  though  the  mathematics  will  be  only 
applied  arithmetic.  The  quantity  that  is  needed  is  large. 

The  science  work  also,  both  in  elementary  and  secondary 
schools  can  be  vitalized.  The  anti-rnosquito  campaign  referred 
to  is  a  fair  example.  There  is  no  better  possible  way  of  teach- 
ing the  biological  science  relating  to  mosquitoes  and  to  malarial 
germs,  their  life-histories,  their  relations  to  disease,  and  their 
other  scientific  relations.  In  the  same  way  there  is  a  great 
wealth  of  science  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of  tree 
planting  and  tree  care  as  an  aspect  of  city  beautification,  of  the 
city  milk  supply,  the  city  water  supply,  the  economic  value  of 
birds,  the  sanitation  of  public  buildings,  the  disposal  of  garbage, 
city  dust,  etc.,  etc.  When  one  views  the  wide  range  of  science 
which  people  need  to  know  in  order  to  understand  their  actual 
problems,  the  tragic  waste  of  opportunity  represented  by  the 
present  abstract  science  of  the  high  school  appears.  We  are  not 
here  denying  the  necessity  for  certain  preliminary  study  of 
physics  and  chemistry,  botany  and  zoology,  physiography  and 
physiology,  etc.,  by  way  of  sketching  the  outlines  of  science 
needed  as  keys  to  interpretation  of  specific  situations.  We  are 
saying  that  there  is  altogether  too  much  time  given  to  this  pre- 
liminary study  of  these  various  abstract  sciences,  and  practically 


EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 69 

a  total  neglect  of  the  science  that  lies  about  one  in  concrete 
form  on  every  hand.  The  facts  that  enter  into  these  concrete 
situations  near  at  hand  are  just  as  scientific,  just  as  real,  and  of 
incalculably  greater  value  to  the  people  of  the  city.  In  my 
opinion,  the  tax-payers  of  the  city  should  refuse  to  pay  their 
money  for  science  that  cannot  be  demonstrated  to  be  related  to 
problems  of  men  as  these  are  found  in  the  practical  situations 
in  which  people  find  themselves;  and  they  should  insist  that 
all  that  is  needed  should  be  taught.  This  would  not  mean  less 
science  than  is  now  taught;  it  would  mean  more.  It  would  not 
mean  merely  local  science.  The  need  of  comparisons  with  con- 
ditions in  other  cities  and  countries,  keeps  the  wide  outlook.  It 
would  mean,  however,  that  it  would  have  to  be  anchored  to  and 
grow  out  of  local  needs  before  it  could  be  justified. 

The  educational  problems  here  suggested  are  many  and 
large.  The  educational  responsibility,  however,  cannot  be  shifted 
merely  because  the  problems  represent  work.  They  are  at  the 
present  time  being  attacked  and  being  solved  in  many  cities.  They 
are  not  things  that  can  be  solved  by  theorists.  Nor  can  they  be 
solved  byjDn^cityjmd  borrowed  by  another.  Each  city  has  its 
own  peculiar  set  of  pro^ems,~a^Tl^^ejpojis^ilityires  on^the 
people  of  eaclTTu77^b^!Trlay^Tid  professional, ^o~work  outThe" 
problems  involved.  It  will  require  years.  It  must  be  a  process 
of  growth.  Such  problems  should  be  introduced  at  once  as  can 
be  introduced.  Others  should  be  added  as  it  becomes  possible. 
The  studies  will  not  be  revolutionized  in  any  sudden  way ;  but 
only  changed  gradually.  The  science  work  will  be  changed  here 
and  there  so  as  to  relate  it  more  and  more  to  the  actual  problems 
of  the  city.  The  historical  materials  will  be  chosen  more  and 
more  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  social  background  of 
present-day  social  problems.  The  geographical  materials  will 
be  chosen  more  and  more  for  similar  purposes.  The  things 
of  history  and  geography  and  other  studies  that  are  of  only 
pieliminary  value  or  which  are  of  no  value,  will  be  given  less  and 
less  time  and  will  be  gradually  pushed  into  positions  commensur- 
ate with  their  worth.  Such  a  gradual  reformulation  of  the  work 
is  the  only  kind  of  reformulation  that  can  be  healthy  and  that 


i 


70 CHAPTER  IV. 

can  be  permanent.  An  attempt  to  make  changes  too  suddenly 
or  changes  of  too  great  degree  must  necessarily  result  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  demoralization.  The  rate  of  growth 
must  depend  in  chief  degree  upon  the  width  and  strength  of  pro- 
fessional and  social  vision  on  the  part  of  the  supervisory  workers 
in  the  school  system ;  superintendent,  high  school  principal,  ele- 
mentary school  principals  and  head  of  the  department  of  civics ; 
and  also  upon  the  width  of  social  vision  of  the  lay  leaders  of  the 
community. 

Recognition  of  the  needs  of  relating  the  teaching  of  the 
schools  to  outside  social  matters  is  indicated  most  clearly  in  the 
use  of  Current  Events.  In  the  beginning  of  several  history 
and  civics  recitations  visited,  a  few  minutes  were  given  to  the 
presentation  of  two  or  three  topics  of  current  interest,  the  facts 
being  taken  from  current  newspapers.  This  work  represents  a 
very  healthy  development.  The  facts  are  chosen  at  random,  how- 
ever. They  lack  sequence;  they  are  not  connected  up  to  prob- 
lems that  are  being  studied  intensively  by  the  class.  They  are 
mere  extras,  in  no  wise  related  to  the  rest  of  the  recitation.  For 
effectiveness  the  classes  need  to  have  such  a  long  list  of  civic 
/topics  for  perennial  study  as  we  have  mentioned.  Then  current 
/  events  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  topics  which  have  been 
studied  and  which  are  occasionally  taken  up  for  such  further 
elucidation.  When  this  is  done,  each  current  event  reported 
by  the  daily  press  has  significance,  and  its  importance  can  be 
rightly  valued.  Such  accretion  to  the  body  of  thought  system- 
atically developed  in  the  civics  classes  should  be  constant  and 
should  in  fact  constitute  a  continuous  review  of  the  various 
topics  that  have  been  covered.  It  is  the  normal  method  of  in- 
tellectual digestion  and  assimilation.  It  is  the  normal  method 
of  review. 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 71 

Chapter  V. 

EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY. 

The  physical  aspects  of  one's  home  life — one's  play,  sleep 
meals,  the  personal  hygiene  and  sanitation  of  the  home,— ;=wJiL 
constitute  the  basic  aspects  of  one's  education  in  this  field. 
The  school  will  take  these  various  prrysrcat  activities i  of  the  chil- 
dren as  the  starting-point  for  increasing  their  information  as 
to  the  various  things  and  for  perfecting  their  habits. 

Wherever  the  child  goes,  he  takes  his  problems  with  him 
The  fundamental  activities  relating  to  the  physical  training 
therefore  transfer  to  the  school,  so  long  as  he  is  there.  These 
can  be  used  as  the  basis  of  his  physical  education. 

The  ventilation  problem  for  example,  exists  at  the  school  as 
fully  almost  as  at  the  home.  The  responsibility  for  taking  care 
of  the  ventilation  in  the  school  room  can  be  placed  upon  the 
pupils,  beginning  with  a  rather  early  age.  They  can  be  trained 
to  habits  of  watchfulness  as  to  the  condition  of  ventilation. 
They  can  be  made  sensitive  through  this  watchfulness.  Then 
with  this  as  a  basis  the  necessary  technical  information  can  easily 
be  given.  Having  entered  into  the  practical  and  the  technical  in 
so  large  measure  at  the  school,  it  is  then  possible  to  extend  the 
consideration  of  ventilation  to  the  home  living  rooms,  dining 
rooms,  and  especially  the  sleeping  rooms.  This  j)art  of  their 
fundamental^  activities  cannot  be  transferred  to  the  school;  but^ 
after  students  are  macte~Fensittye^to  trigproblerns~aTthe  school, 
they  can_do  the  same  things  at  home ;  and  through  doing  them, 
get  their  education.  Only  as  knowledge  is  used,  is  it  properly 
assimilated. 

The  placing  of  the  school  ventilation  responsibilities  upon 
.the  pupils  in  San  Antonio  for  purposes  of  their  education  is 
especially  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  in  practically  all  of  the 
schools,  ventilation  is  by  means  of  windows.  For  reasons  to  be 
pointed  out  in  a  later  chapter,  it  is  probable  that  ventlation  of 
school  rooms  in  San  Antonio  should  always  be  chiefly  by  means 
of  windows.  The  teaching  opportunities -should  not  be  thrown 


72 CHAPTER  V. 

away  by  leaving  the  ventilation  to  the  janitor,  the  teacher,  or  by 
turning  it  over  wholly  to  a  mechanical  ventilating  system.  The 
work  should  be  assigned  to  the  pupils  by  relays. 

Training  in  the  hygiene  of  the  eye  is  in  a  large  measure 
training  one  to  a  proper  control  of  the  light  in  which  one  works 
Like  ventilation  this  is  a  problem  that  transfers  rather  largely 
to  the  schools.  The  children  should  be  required  for  purposes 
of  education  to  take  care  of  the  blinds  and  other  matters  in- 
volved in  the  control  of  the  light  of  the  school  rooms.  The  tech- 
nical matters  relating  to  the  intensity  of  light,  proper  direction 
of  light,  the  elimination  of  shadows  in  one's  work,  the  nervous 
harmfulness  of  glare  and  eye  strain,  etc.,  can  be  easily  taught  in 
direct  connection  with  the  practical  situations.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  San  Antonio  school  rooms  for  the  most  part,  have 
windows  on  two  or  three  sides,  the  control  of  the  lighting  is  a 
continuous  problem,  throughout  the  day  and  the  year,  and  can 
be  made  the  basis  of  practically  all  the  training  needed  for  this 
topic. 

Physical  upbuilding  exercise,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
important  things  in  the  physical  training  of  children,  can  be 
transferred  in  a  very  large  degree  to  the  schools.  Because  of 
the  fact  that  play  activities  are  better  when  social  and  varied, 
they  can  be  carried  on  better  at  school  than  at  most  homes,  if 
the  school  desires  it. 

This  subject  of  education  is  coming  to  be  recognized  as 
legitimate  in  San  Antonio  CeTtaln~s^tlooT¥,^a^rticttlarly  certain 
outlying  schools  like  the^Highland  Park,  or  the  Beacon  Hill, 
are  fairly  generously  supplied  with  outdoor  play  space.  On  the 
play-grounds  at  quite  a  number  of  schools,  one  finds  giant  strides, 
swings,  teeter-boards,  basket-ball  outfits,  volley-ball  outfits, 
horizontal  bars,  childrens'  slides,  and  occasionally  certain  other 
play-ground  equipment. 

The  movement  thus  begun  needs  to  be  continued  in  a  num- 
ber of  ways.  Every  school  in  the  system  needs  such  an  outfit 
of  playground  apparatus^as  is  now  being  developed  at  certain  of 
the  schools;  and  in  addition  to  the  things  named,  there  perhaps 
ought  to  be  certain  other  matters  like  a  sand-bin  for  the  little 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 73 

children,  a  croquet  ground  or  two  with  its  equipment,  a  tennis 
court  or  two,  indoor  baseball  outfits  to  be  used  outdoors,  a 
tether  ball  equipment,  etc.  The  largest  and  most  difficult  prob- 
lem in  this  connection  for  San  Antonio  relates  to  the  surfacing 
of  the  school  grounds.  Most  of  the  school  grounds  require 
filling  and  draining.  After  this  is  done  there  is  the  problem  of 
providing  a  surface  that  will  not  be  muddy  in  rainy  weather; 
that  will  not  be  dusty  or  stony  in  dry  weather ;  that  will  not  be 
too  hard  or  stony  for  children  to  fall  on ;  and  which  at  the  same 
time  is  durable  and  requires  relatively  little  care.  No  such  sur- 
face has  yet  been  discovered  that  is  sufficiently  inexpensive. 
The  city  ought  to  investigate  and  experiment  with  different  pos- 
sible surfacing  by  way  of  finding  improvements  over  present 
conditions. 

-^?titer  grounds  are  equipped  for  proper  physical  education, 
At  is  desirable  that  they  be  used  for  this  purpose.    The  play  ac- 
j  tivities  for  physical  education  need  to  be  just  as  much  a  part 
i  of  the  regular  daily  program  as  the  arithmetic  drill  for  vocational 
^-training,   or   the   grammar   drill    for   one's    language    training. 
Well-developed  health  of  body  is  fully  as  important  as  well- 
developed  language.    The  play  needs  to  be  a  part  of  the  daily 
program  of  every  child.    It  is  too  important  to  be  left  simply  to 
the   voluntary   activities   of   children   at   the   inadequate    recess 
periods,  or  to  the  unsupervised  before  and  after  school  periods. 
It  should  be  left  unsupervised  no  more  than  arithmetic  is  left 
unsupervised. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  games  open  to  boys  and  girls. 
Generally  however,  they  know  relatively  few,  because  of  lack  of 
teaching  and  other  lack  of  opportunities.  Just  to  illustrate  games 
that  children  should  know,  the  following  list  is  presented : 

Children  6  to  9  Years  Old. 

Crossing  the  Brook,  Circle  Ball,     . 

Charley  Over  the  Water,  London  Bridge, 

Farmer  in  the  Dell,  Fox  and  Squirrel, 

Cat  and  Rat*  Nuts  in  May, 


74 


CHAPTER  V. 


Ring  Call  Ball, 
Shadow  Tag, 
Stoop  Tag. 


Arch  Ball, 
Hunt  the  Fox, 
Roley  Poley, 
Dodge  Ball, 
Captain  Ball, 
Club  Snatch. 


Prisoner's  Base, 
Curtain  Ball, 
Keep  Moving, 
Black  and  White, 
Bombardment, 
Basket  Ball, 
Round  Ball, . 
Volley.  Ball, 
Square  Ball. 


Puss  in  a  Corner, 
Water  Sprite, 
Shuttle  Relay. 

Children  9  to  12  Years  Old. 

Cross  Tag, 
Drive  Ball, 
Stride  Ball, 
Three  Deep, 
Black  Tom, 
Duck  on  a  Rock. 

Children  12  to  15  Years  Old. 

Whip  Tag, 

Zigzag  Overhead  Toss, 
Double  Relay  Race, 
Pig  in  a  Hole, 
Circle  Race, 
Dumb  Crambo, 
Fox  and  Geese, 
Forcing  the  City  Gates, 
Pass  and  Toss  Relay. 


In  the  later  grades  and  high  school,  the  games  and  athletics 
of  the  boys  will  differentiate  more  and  more  in  kind  from  those 
of  the  girls.  Most  of  those  given  above  are  good  for  either 
boys  or  girls.  Certain  games  like  baseball,  football,  tennis, 
hockey,  shinney,  leap  frog,  badminton,  tug-of-war,  duck  on  a 
reck,  tetherball,  prisoner's  base,  scrimmage  ball,  forcing  the 
city  gates,  bombardment,  relay  races,  etc.,  etc.,  are  particularly 
valuable  for  the  older  boys. 

r  Especially  desirable  for  the  girls  but  valuable  also  for 
/the  boys  are  the  rythmic  folk  games  and  rythmic  gymnastic 
[games,  usually  to  the  accompaniment  of  music.  A  few  of  the 
Imore  valuable  of  the  gymnastic  and  folk  games  are  the  following : 

V  .* 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY  75 

Folk  Games  Suitable  for  Small  Children. 

Hey,  Little  Lassie,  Csardas, 

How  do  you  do,  my  Partner?  Today  is  the  First  of  May, 

I  see  you,  Shoemaker's  Dance, 

Mountain  March.  Nigare  Polska. 

Folk  Games  Suitable  for  Older  Girls. 

Csardas,  Reap  the  Flax, 

Fjalnas  Polska,  Komarno, 

Harvest  Dance,  Strasak, 

Laudnum  Bunches,  How  Do  You  Do,  Sir? 

Trollen.  Varsouvienne. 

The  school  buildings  in  San  Aotonk) ...have_never  j>een 
planned  to  take  care  of  the  physical  education  of  children  through 
exercise.  Owing  to  the  mild  climate  it  is  generally  felt  presum- 
ably that  the  outdoor  play  on  the  playgrounds  is  sufficient. 
While  outdoor  play  should  constitute  the  major  portion  for 
most  boys  and  girls,  yet  there^  are  certain  jiesirable  rythmic 
fclk  and  gymnastic  games  that  can^J3jMtajcen^care~bT  indoors. 
For  these  reasons  the  buildings  ought  to  be  constructed  or  furn- 
ished so  as  to  provide  opportunity.  At  the  Crockett  or  build- 
ings on  the  type  of  the  Highland  Park  building,  the  fairly  wide 
corridors  can  be  used  to  very  good  purpose  at  certain  times  of 
the  day.  If  care  is  taken  to  secure  good  air,  and  to  prevent  dust 
at  the  Crockett  School,  the  large  open  spaces  in  the  basement 
can  be  so  used.  One  of  the  best  suggestions  to  be  found  in 
San  Antonio  is  at  the  Smith  School.  If  the  large  pavilion  there 
possessed  a  good  floor,  it  would  be  a  relatively  inexpensive 
method  of  providing  for  all  such  gymnastic,  folk,  and  other  in- 
door games  in  a  climate  like  that  of  San  Antonio.  It  could  be  used 
almost  every  day  of  the  year,  and  the  play  classes  could  go  there 
for  regular  play  exercises  on  the  program  in  just  the  same  way 
that  they  go  to  their  manual  training  and  domestic  science 
classes.  Naturally  such  a  pavilion  would  need  to  have  a  very 
small  room  in  which  a  piano  could  be  kept,  but  which  when 
opened  would  permit  the  use  of  the  piano  for  the  pavilion  with- 


76 ' CHAPTER  V. 

out  moving  it.  Such  an  inexpensive  pavilion  consisting  of  little 
more  than  roof  and  floor  could  be  of  very  large  service  at  every 
school  in  the  city,  not  only  for  physical  training  purposes 
throughout  the  entire  day,  but  also  as  a  social  gathering  place 
for  the  community  for  eight  months  of  the  year.  It  is  probable 
that  the  open  air  gymnasium  of  this  type,  will  be  the  kind  of 
most  practical  value  for  both  elementary  and  high  schools  in 
this  mild  climate. 

Another  suggestion  as  to  the  method  of  finding  floor  space 
for  the  folk  and  gymnastic  games  is  to  be  found  in  the  new 
mathematics  room  at  the  Main  Avenue  High  School.  This  room 
has  been  seated  with  a  modern  type  of  chair-desk,  which  is  alto- 
gether suitable  for  the  scholastic  labors  of  the  school  room, 
but  which  is  movable.  A  class  can  clear  the  floor  in  thirty 
seconds,  and  make  it  ready  for  indoor  exercises.  Owing  to  the 
development  of  activity  and  of  variety  in  school  work,  it  is 
altogether  probable  that  in  the  school  rooms  of  the  not  greatly 
distant  future  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  have  them  furnished 
in  such  a  way  that  one  can  change  easily  from  one  type  of  activity 
to  another.  At  present  with  their  fixed  desks  and  seats  the  rooms 
are  equipped  for  little  more  than  simply  book  work ;  sitting,  writ- 
ing, reading,  and  listening.  The  use  of  the  chair-desk,  however, 
permits  readjustment  without  difficulty,  so  that  a  room  can  be 
used  for  first  one  thing  and  then  another.  The  city  would  do 
well  it  seems  to  consider  the  advisability  of  purchasing^mpvable 
chair-desks  or  simtlarjgovable  furTuluTe^ofriew  buildings  and 
new  rooms  that  are  being^eo^uipped,  and  for  replacing  furniture 
in  buildings  wherejhe^ldejr^equipmen^sbe 

There  is  another  type  of  physical  play  which  is  highly 
valuable  for  such  a  climate  as  that  of  San  Antonio,  but  which 
has  not  yet  been  sufficiently  valued.  It  is  a  thing  too,  which 
can  be  transferred  to  the  school,  and  in  fact  thrives  rather  better 
when  transferred  to  the  school  and  properly  supervised  by 
adults.  Reference  is  made^to  the  swimming  pool  There  are 
things  of  which  San  Antomo~~schools  have'  greater  immediate 
need ;  but  it  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  plans  that  look  some- 
what to  the  future. 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY  77 

A  glance  of  the  list  of  plays  enumerated  in  the  preceding 
paragraphs,  which  are  being  introduced  as  a  necessary  part 
of  the  physical  education  in  our  progressive  cities,  shows  the 
need  teaching.  The  children  do  not  know  the  games  naturally 
any  more  than  they  know  their  grammar  naturally.  There  must 
be  teachers  to  take  care  of  this  aspect  of  education.  They  are 
better  called  play  leaders,  and  they  perform  their  services  more 
effectively  when  they  are  actually  play  leaders.  While  the  usual 
opinion  has  been  that  chilren  play  without  teaching  or  leadership, 
yet  as  the  result  of  practical  experience  everywhere,  it  is  coming 
to  be  learned  that  the  play  of  children  thrives  best  under  proper 
leadership. 

It  is  especially  difficult  to  turn  this  type  of  education  over 
to  the  regular  teacher  at  the  present  time.  Generally  she  does 
not  know  the  games,  especially  those  of  boys.  She  does  not 
usually  look  upon  it  as  a  legitimate  portion  of  educational  labor, 
and  is  not  apt  to  take  it  seriously.  Such  work  on  her  part  re- 
quires a  special  physique,  a  special  point  of  view,  special  knowl- 
edge, often  a  special  form  of  dress,  things  that  the  grade  teacher 
does  not  generally  possess.  In  developing  such  work  within  a 
building,  it  will  be  found  best  to  give  the  work  over  to  special 
teachers  so  far  as  possible.  Until  work  is  more  departmentalized 
than  at  present,  this  will  scarcely  be  practicable.  For  the  present 
mosf~pf  'if  wilt  ha~ve~  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  grade  teachers 
under  the  supervision  of  the  physical  training  director. 

At  the  present  time  physical  education  in  the  San  Antonio 
schools  takes  the  form  of  Swedish -gymnastics.  This  is  not  a 
thing  thatlifmade  to  grow  out  of  the  natural  life  of  the  children 
within  the  community.  It  is  not  an  enlargement,  an  expansion, 
and  refinement  of  fundamental  play  activities  found  in  the  actual 
population  of  San  Antonio ;  and  since  it  does  not  relate  to  the 
childrens'  general  out-of-school  life  as  a  natural  supplementary 
portion,  it  is  a  thing  that  remains  to  them  foreign,  meaningless, 
and  uninteresting^  In  the  classes  observed  both  the  teacher  and 
the  pupils  were  going  through  certain  lifeless  mechanical,  per- 
functory exercises  that  were  sufficiently  joyless  to  all  concerned, 
and  which  certainly  were  not  bringing  about  any  physical  ed- 


78  CHAPTER  V. 


ucation.  Everything  wa^Je^bb^SIld^assiveJ^dQne^  There  was 
none  of  the  exuberance  of  muscular  expenditure  that  one  sees 
in  childrens'  play.  The  only  thing  that  approached  real  exercise 
observed  in  such  classes  was  when  a  primary  class  of  about 
the  third  grade,  after  closing  their  Swedish  gymnastic  posturing, 
ran  briskly  once  or  twice  around  the  class-room.  This  running 
was  something  like  dropping  down  to  fundamentals.  It  seemed 
to  be  appreciated,  and  although  lasting  for  only  about  thirty 
seconds,  was  certainly  more  valuable  than  the  entire  preceding 
ten  minutes  of  posturing  in  response  to  commands.  One  would 
be  safe  in  saying  that  if  the  physical  culture  work  of  the  schools 
in  general  was  fairly  represented  by  the  four  exercises  observed, 
that  it  is  certainly  worth  only  a  very  small  percent  of  the 
$22,000  that  is  annually  being  paid  for  it  by  the  city.  The 
efficiency  of  the  exercises  was  so  low  that  it  would  be  a  per- 
fectly safe  estimate  that  the  city  is  annually  investing  $15,000 
for  which  it  receives  no  return.  A  committee  of  laymen,  physi- 
cians, public-spirited  women,  etc.,  people  who  are  able  to  see 
education  more  clearly  from  the  point  of  view  of  fundamental 
human  needs  and  whose  vison  has  not  been  so  distorted  by  the 
academic  atmosphere,  should  be  invited  by  the  school  board 
to  visit  some  of  these  physical  education  classes  as  they  are  con- 
ducted by  the  regular  class  room  teachers  throughout  the  city 
in  the  absence  of  the  supervisor  and  to  report  whether  in  their 
opinion  the  large  expense  of  this  type  of  physical  education  is 
justified  by  the  results. 

It  would  be  better  if  the  time  and  money  now  being  ex- 
pended upon  this  so-called  physical  education  should  be  turned 
into  the  development  of  the  natural  fundamental  play  activities 
of  children  along  lines  which  they  can  understand,  which  they 
appreciate  and  into  which  they  can  enter  with  vigor.  The 
schools  should  add  much  of  a  supplementary  nature.  It  should 
look  forward  definitely  to  the  developm£n1^_of_cecreational 
play  habits  on  the  part  of  adults.  In  an  industrial  age  like"burs 
when  special  izatiorTTs  becoming  so  narrow  and  when  men  in  large 
numbers  are  old  and  thrown  on  the  scrap  heap  at  the  age  of 
forty  because  of  their  lack  of  physical  and  mental  flexibility, 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 79_ 

we  are  coming  to  discern  the  great  need  of  continuing  play  activi- 
ties through  adulthood  for  the  sake  of  keeping  normal.  The 
automobile  for  example,  which  is  mostly  a  pleasure  vehicle  is 
serving  a  very  important  function  in  this  field  for  those  who  can 
afford  them.  It  is  forbidden  to  most  because  of  the  expense ; 
but  when  a  city  has  the  meeting  centers  for  social  purposes  of  a 
type  that  could  be  easily  had  in  San  Antonio,  and  when  its  popu- 
lation has  beenjtrained  to  healthyjdsure  occupations  in  the  way 
of  rhythmic  gymnastics  and  folk  games,  in  tennis,  basketball," 
volley  ball,  the  so-called  indoor  baseball  which  should  be  played 
outdoors  always  in  San  Antonio,  in  swimming,  running,  jumping 
and  other  athletic  contests,— when  the  adults  of  the  city  are 
trained  to  these  things,  and  at  the  same  time  provided  with  the 
necessary  recreational  facilities,  then  men  may  easily  retain 
their  youth  and  vigor  and  plasticity  through  an  entire  lifetime. 
Until  recently  we  have  looked  upon  play  as  a  thing  proper  only 
for  children  and  the  wealthy  leisure-classes.  They  indulged  not 
because  they  needed  it,  but  because  they  liked  it.  In  these  later 
days,  however,  we  are  coming  to  see  that  relaxation  and  recrea- 
tion for  our  manual  laboring  classes,  both  men  and  women, 
are  not  only  desirable  for  the  pleasures  that  they  give  but  are 
absolutely  indispensable  for  continuing  vigor,  physical  and  social 
normality,  and  for  continuing  youth  and  adaptability  throughout 
an  entire  lifetime.  Proper  leisure  occupations  of  the  type  de- 
scribed are  mqrejiecessary  for  the  laboring  classes  of  our  popu- 
lation than  for  the  well-to^dfll  The  Tatter~cla"ss  finds  plenty  of 
social  relaxation,  etc.,  in  the  course  of  their  regular  labors.  This 
is  not  the  case,  however,  with  those  that  do  the  monotonous, 
heavy  work  which  is  every  whit  as  necessary. 

Before  leaving  this  topic  of  bodily  development  through 
physical  recreation,  we  should  call  special  attention  to  the  situa- 
tion at  the  high  school.  Here  we  find  the  best  of  the  city's 
children.  Work  begins  at  8 :30  in  the  morning  and  runs  practi- 
cally without  intermission  until  2  :00  in  the  afternoon.  Except 
for  certain  shop-work,  it  is  all  of  an  academic  character.  There 
is  no  gymnasium,  no  athletic  field,  no  physical  training  teacher, 
no  systematized  training  of  any  sort.  At  the  close  of  the  after- 


80 CHAPTER  V. 

noon  session,  there  are  still  four  hours  of  daylight  in  San  Antonio 
on  the  shortest  day  of  the  year.  The  children  are  turned  out  of 
the  high  school  with  this  long  stretch  of  time  before  them  and 
sent  away  to  their  homes.  While  the  high  school  Has  considerable 
out-door  play  space, — inadequate  for  so  large  a  high  school, 
but  yet  considerable, — it  is  not  utilized  for  physical  education. 
It  is  used  only  voluntarily  by  certain  students  when  the  uncared- 
for  grounds  will  permit.  Some  of  the  high  school  boys  and  girls 
are  able  to  find  away  from  the  school  sufficiently  desirable 
opportunities  for  physical  recreation  within  a  social  atmosphere 
necessary  to  the  proper  education  of  youth  at  this  age.  The 
majority  of  them,  however,  cannot  do  so.  This^isjlie_social  age\ 
par  excellence  and_4>hy^ic^j]ecr£atk)ns  of  these  ^adolescents  j 
should  be  social.  Moreover,  it  is  the  age  when  they  will  develop/ 
the  habits,  social  and  recreational,  that  are  certain  to  presisfm 
the  majority  of  cases  throughout  life.  When  this  necessary  por- 
tion of  their  education  is  left  only  to  the  random  opportunities 
of  the  homes  and  streets  and  the  occasional  public  dance  hall  or 
other  public  recreation  places,  the  necessary  education  in  the 
majority  of  cases  is  not  accomplished,  or  it  is  badly  accomplished. 
The  loss  is  a  serious  one  of  which  communities  in  general  are 
not  yet  sufficiently  conscious.  They  have  not  usually  studied 
the  developmental  values  of  physical  recreational  exercises.  If  a 
community,  however,  will  lay  aside  all  of  its  prejudices  and  pre- 
dilection and  will  look  upon  these  various  matters  from  the  point 
of  view  of  plain  common-sense,  they  will  see  that  such  socialized 
physical  training  is  of  incalculably  greater  value  than  the  rela- 
tively useless  algebra  and  Latin  for  which  the  community  is  pay- 
ing so  much.  If  a  city  cannot  afford  both,  it  should  choose 
the  one  of  greatest  value.  Only  those  who  have  not  yet  suffici- 
ently considered  the  question  in  all  of  its  bearings  can  fail  to  see 
which  this  is. 

With  its  present  grounds,  the  high  school  might  do  a  great 
deal,  if  it  set  about  it,  by  using  the  three  hours  between  two 
and  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  also  by  introducing  certain  periods 
during  the  regular  scholastic  day  for  physical  training  in  the  way 
to  be  found  in  the  majority  of  well-developed  high  schools,  where 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 81 

the  gymnasium  is  generally  used  for  this  purpose.  There  is 
no  reason  why  the  San  Antonio  high  schools  jtnight_not^employ 
what  we  call  an  outdoor  gymnasium.  \The  groundsnee 


facing.  In  the  recent  recognition  by  the  city  of  the  need  of 
proper  surfacing  for  the  streets  for  traffic,  it  should  also  be 
recognized  that  there  is  an  equal  need  for  proper  surfacing  of 
the  school  grounds  which  are  used  for  just  as  important  pur- 
poses and  by  just  as  large  a  fraction  of  thg  population)  With 
properly  surfaced  grounds,  with  proper  sprinkling  to  keep  down 
the  dust  during  certain  portions  of  the  year,  the  outdoor  grounds 
in  this  city  might  be  made  to  serve  practically  every  purpose  of 
the  indoor  gymnasium  in  colder  regions,  and  at  the  same  time 
possess  certain  physical  features  of  great  value  that  cannot  be  had 
in  the  indoor  gymnasium.  One  of  the  benefits  of  such  outdoor 
physical  education  would  be  perhaps  a  greater  tendency  toward 
athletic  games,  and  less  tendency  toward  mere  mechanical  gym- 
nasium exercises  which  should  be  for  most  youths  avoided  when 
games  and  athletics  can  be  made  to  take  their  place.  There  is  no 
reason  discernible  why  the  carpentry  classes  of  the  high  school 
might  not  construct  a  roof  and  floor  of  such  a  pavilion  as  is 
found  at  School  No.  15. 

To  carry  out  such  work,  the  high  school  needs  two  physical 
directors,  who  have  been  fully  trained  for  work  in  this  field,  a 
man  for  the  boys,  and  a  woman  for  the  girls.  The  extra  period 
of  time  can  be  found  in  the  high  schools  either  by  cutting  down 
the  amount  of  time  now  given  to  book  work,  or  by  introducing 
the  physical  period  into  the  regular  program  and  thus  extending, 
the  day  to  3  :00  o'clock.  One  cannot  speak  arbitrarily  as  to  the 
desirable  length  of  the  high  school  day.  It  all  depends  upon 
what  is  being  done.  If  the  work  is  developed  so  that  much  of  it 
is  active:  shop-work,  laboratory  work,  games  on  the  play  field, 
folk  games,  music,  public  speaking,  etc.,  a  longer  day  than  the 
present  one  for  those  who  have  no  great  amount  of  home  work  to 
do,  is  certainly  desirable.  When  the  work  is  over-academic,  as  it 
is  at  the  present  time,  even  the  five  and  one-half  hour  day  may 
be  too  long. 


82 CHAPTER  V. 

When  the  city,  a  few  years  hence,  sets  about  building  its 
new  high  school,  provision  for  physical  education  should  receive 
long  and  serious  attention.  If  an  attempt  is  made  to  utilize 
present  facilities  as  fully  as  possible,  by  the  time  the  city  is 
planning  its  new  building  and  grounds  it  will  have  developed 
a  fund  of  practical  experience  that  can  serve  in  large  degree 
as  a  practical  foundation  for  judgment  in  deciding  what  should 
be  done. 

As  we  shall  have  occasion  to  point  out  in  the  chapter  on 
buildings,  San  Antonio  conditions  are  very  different  from  those 
of  the  colder  cities  of  the  north  and  northeast  in  connection 
with  whose  buildings  most  of  our  books  are  written.  It  is 
not  possible  simply  to  borrow  their  modes  of  construction  and 
apply  them  to  San  Antonio  conditions.  This  city  needs  more 
open  air  facilities.  Serious  mistakes  can  be  made  from  such  an 
attempt  to  borrow  ideas  from  a  different  climate.  Things  for 
San  Atnonio  must  be  worked  out  in  San  Antonio  and  in  cities 
similarly  situated.  To  try  out  the  plans  suggested  is  one  way  of 
finding  out  how  to  plan  for  the  new  building. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  considering  only  the  practical  ex- 
ercises. In  connection  with  these,  there  should  be  introduced 
a  large  amount  of  technical,  scientific  information  relating  to 
the  physiology  and  the  hygiene  of  muscular  exercise.  There  is 
a  great  wealth  of  such  scientific  information  relating  to  the  ef- 
fects of  exercise  upon  respiration,  expansion  of  the  lungs,  de- 
veloping healthy  conditions  in  the  lungs,  rendering  them  less  sus- 
ceptible to  disease,  the  effects  of  exercise  upon  the  heart,  upon  the 
arterial  and  venous  circulation,  upon  digestion,  upon  the  health 
of  the  various  digestive  organs,  upon  assimilation  within  the 
tissues,  upon  general  nervous  tone,  effects  upon  the  kidneys, 
relation  to  wastes,  upon  resistance  to  bacterial  attacks,  upon 
relation  to  balanced  dietary,  to  sleep,  to  periods  of  work  and  rest, 
to  fatigue,  to  nervousness,  to  organic  diseases,  and  to  a  large 
number  of  other  things.  The  physiology  of  the  schools  which  at 
the  present  time  is  so  abstract  and  so  little  related  to  the  actual 
problems  of  life  can  be  given  functional  virility  only  as  it  can 
be  directly  related  to  such  fundamental  physical  activities. 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 83 

This  is  stated  in  full  view  of  the  excellence  of  the  textbooks 
now  used  in  the  elementary  school  on  this  subject  as  compared 
with  the  type  of  textbook  commonly  used  until  recently.  But 
even  a  good  text  after  rapid  preliminary  reading  is  best  used 
as  a  reference  book  in  connection  with  practical  situations.  It 
should  not  be  a  thing  that  is  merely  to  be  learned  and  recited 
without  reference  to  the  human  situation  in  which  children 
and  teachers  pass  their  days.  The  high  school  which  needs  the 
heavy  work  in  the  hygiene  of  exercise  is  not  so  fortunate  in 
its  textbook.  It  is  more  along  the  line  of  the  old-fashioned 
physiology.  The  Jii^h  school  needs  a  better  texJLjmji_JJLjiejids_ 
library  facilities  which  will  permit  teachers  and  pupils  to_gather__ 
up  the  various  needed  items  of  physiological  and ^  hjg;ienjcjnfor^ 
mation.  TTie~~  ^amount  that  should  be  gathered  together  and 
taught  upon  this  one  topic  alone  is  larger  than  the  whole  sum 
of  information  now  to  be  found  in  the  textbook  used  in  the  high 
school. 

^  Social  as  well  as  technical  understanding  of  the  topic  is 
needed.  This,  like  civic  and  industrial  topics,  should  be  given 
wide  social  perspective  through  history,  geography,  econonv 
ics  and  Sociological  studies/  In  the  reading  of  the  pupils,  they 
should  come  to  see  and  understand  the  way  the  physical  play 
impulse  has  worked  itself  out  in  the  various  nations  of  the  world, 
past  and  present.  A  knowledge  of  the  physical  training  of  the 
Greeks  before  and  during  their  Golden  Age  has  for  our  times  as 
much  significance  as  a  knowledge  of  their  art  and  their  political 
adjustments  and  problems.  One'a__s_tudies^_should .  show  that  it 
has  been  during  medieval  and  modern  jimes  one  of  the  largest 
factors  in  the  development  of  national  virility  and  strength.  The 
studies  of  a  social  sort  should  show  the  obstructive  influences 
that  are  growing  up  in  our  cities,  which  must  of  necessity  lead 
to  national  degeneration  of  our  population  unless  by  taking 
thought  we  provide  for  corrective  training  and  corrective  oppor- 
tunities for  the  population.  Studies  should  enter  into  the  econ- 
omic costs  of  such  humanitarian  provision  in  many  cities  of  the 
United  States  and  in  cities  of  foreign  countries ;  and  into  the 
methods  that  are  being  employed. 


84 CHAPTER  V. 

A  further  major  topic  in  this  general  field  of  physical  edu- 
catiqn_Js_rjersjQnal  cleanliness.  The  practical  activities  in  this 
training  can  be  only  in  part  transferred  to  the  school.  The  build- 
ing and  grounds  can  be  made  as  perfect  a  living  place  as  possible 
on  the  side  of  cleanliness.  Then  to  live  five  or  six  hours  a  day  in 
a  building  that  is  as  clean  and  sanitary  as  a  hospital,  is  uncon- 
sciously to  develop  within  one  an  understanding  of  the  nature 
of  housing  cleanliness  an-1  sanitation  and  of  an  appreciation  of  its 
desirability.  Everything  about  the  school  should  be  so  clean  and 
so  attractive  to  the  eye  as  to  suggest  the  desirability  of  cleanli- 
ness of  clothing,  of  person  and  belongings,  because  of  the  in- 
congruity of  anything  else  within  that  situation.  The  ugly  and 
unclean  within  ugly  and  unclean  surroundings  appear  perfectly 
natural  and  congruous;  but  when  the  unclean  and  ugly  are  set 
down  in  the  midst  of  a  situation  that  is  clean  and  attractive  in 
every  way,  the  undesirable  stands  out  in  repellant  contrast.  The 
indvidual  who  is  responsible  for  this  contrast,  if  he  has  any  social 
or  aesthetic  sense — and  there  are  few  that  lack  it — is  impelled 
of  his  own  accord  to  make  such  correction  as  he  can.  One's  prac- 
tical education  in  cleanliness  should  so  far  as  possible  take  this 
social  form. 

In  neighborhoods  where  the  homes  do  not  furnish  necessary 
facilities  for  personal  cleanliness,  where  the  standards  are  low, 
it  is  desirable  that  a  portion  of  the  practical  activities  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  school,  and  opportunities  provided  for  promoting 
personal  cleanliness.  Certajr^choolsJn_gan^Antonio  need_hath- 
ing  facilities  more  than  thTTjieecrtcchnical  grammar.  It  would 
be  a  very  easy  matter  toTThe  carpentry  shop  boys  to  construct 
buildings  which  contain  shower  baths  which  might  be  used  as  a 
regular  portion  of  the  class  education  of  the  children.  In  a  num- 
ber of  cities  this  feature  of  education  is  obtaining  a  regular  place 
upon  the  program.  In  those  schools  in  San  Antonio  where  the 
work  is  needed  most  of  the  children  do  not  go  to  the  high  school. 
The  facilities  are  needed  within  the  elementary  schools.  It  is 
needed  as  a  portion  of  their  training.  /  ^ 

We  have  discussed^  thesef  our  topics  of  ventilation,  ligjitirig, 
^physical  exercise  atSFpersonal  d^nlineiirby^way  of  indicating 

«3^  /  ' ' 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 85 

how  training  can  be  made  to  grow  naturally  out  of  practical 
situations.  They  are  merely  illustrative.  Those  responsible  for 
education  in  each  school  should  assemble  the  list  of  matters  in 
which  the  pupils  actually  need  training  in  order  to  promote  health 
and  physical  efficiency.  The  schools  should  not  get  the  topics 
from  reading  the  textbooks.  They  should  be  got  from  reading 
the  conditions  within  the  district  about  the  school. 

After  training  for  physical  welfare  is  developed  as  fully 
as  possible  along  desirable  lines,  it  still  remains  that  the  major 
portion  of  one's  actual  physical  training  must  take  place  under 
out-of-school  conditions.  At  present  the  pupil  cannot  be  at  school 
more  than  thirty  hours  a  week,  while  he  must  be  at  home,  upon 
the  street,  etc.,  for  the  other  one  hundered  thirty-eight  hours 
each  week.  The  things  done  during  this  one  hundred  thirty-eight 
hours  may  be  more  powerful  in  determining  health  habits,  points 
of  view,  standards  of  judgment,  than  the  thirty  hours  at  school. 
If  the  short  time  at  school  can  be  knit  up  with  the  long  time  at 
home  so  that  the  child  or  youth  remembers  the  technical  teach- 
ings of  the  school  and  uses  these  for  the  practical  guidance  in 
his  out-of-school  activities,  then  such  practical  use  of  his  knowl- 
edge educates  him  in  desirable  ways.  But  children  are  short- 
sighted and  prone  to  forget.  The  teacher  needs  to  be  in  contact 
with  the  parents  and  with  the  home-life.  No  one  ever  expects 
long-range  work  in  the  curative  labors  of  a  physician;  he  must 
be  in  intimate  contact  with  the  situation  where  the  cure  is  ef- 
fected. It  is  no  more  possible  to  do  constructive  physical  teach- 
ing labor  at  long  range ;  teachers  must  be  in  intimate  contact  with 
the  situations  where  the  educatio^  can  be  effected.  And  this  is 
where  the  knowledge  is  put  into  practice. 

In  addition  to  that  just  mentioned,  there  is  needed  another 
link  in  the  situation.  In  more  than  a  hundred  cities  in  our 
country  this  is  the  home-visiting  health  nurse.  The  work  of  the 
nurse  is  being  developed  in  connection  with  the  physical  educa- 
tion and  medical  inspection  activities  of  the  school.  It  is  found 
that  these  latter  activities  largely  fail  of  their  purpose  unless 
the  link  between  home  and  school  is  greatly  strengthened  so  that 
the  supplementary  teaching  and  advice  of  the  physician  and 


86 CHAPTER  V. 

teacher  can  be  made  actually  to  bring  about  results  in  the  funda- 
mental activities  of  the  home.  The  child  cannot  be  expected  to 
make  the  connection  in  sufficient  degree.  The  "follow-up  work" 
of  the  health  nurse  is  a  mode  of  helping  the  supplementary  teach- 
ing to  make  the  right  connection  with  the  fundamental  applica- 
tion. In  going  to  the  homes,  in  visiting  and  advising  with  the 
parents,  in  becoming  an  advisory  of  the  home,  so  to  speak,  the 
school  nurse  is  coming  to  do  for  physical  education  in  one  of  its 
aspects  what  the  visiting  argicultural  teacher  is  coming  to  do 
in  many  places  for  the  home  gardening. 

We  are  learning  that  education  must  be  accomplished  in  the 
ways  and  in  the  places  where  it  can  best  be  done,  and  not  merely 
where  we  think  it  most  convenient  to  do  it.  The  school  house 
is  not  the  best  place  for  much  of  it.  In  fact  it  is  not  the  place 
at  all  for  a  good  deal  of  it.  The  sooner  this  is  realized  by  a  com- 
munity, the  sooner  will  it  be  able  to  put  its  education  upon  a 
sound  and  effective  basis.  So  long  as  our  schools  are  expected 
to  do  everything  at  the  school  house,  the  work  degenerates  into 
mere  subject- teach  ing,  some  of  which  is  of  value,  much  of  which 
h  of  no  value.  The  community  gets  about  fifty  cents  value  for 
every  dollar  spent ;  and  the  school  remains  within  its  proverbial 
atmosphere  of  impracticality. 

We  are  learning  thaj^edu^ationjmistbe^arrnmpl  ished  by 
the  one ^who  knows  fnTvarious^problenjs^ and  not  raerely^by 
one  who  happens_to  have  itteacher's  certificate.  For  a  certain 
part  of  the  work  of  personal  hygiene  and  civic  sanitation,  the 
school  nurse  is  the  best  teacher.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  a  trained  school  nurse  who  has  had  a  proper 
medical  course,  a  proper  course  in  social  and  personal  sanitation 
is  the  one  who  should  do  the  major  portion  of  the  teaching 
of  these  matters,  both  within  the  school  and  within  the  general 
community.  In  the  immediate  present,  however,  there  are  not 
enough  nurses  properly  qualified  to  take  the  educational  point 
of  view  as  well  as  the  hygienic;  and  generally  a  city  does  not 
employ  a  sufficient  number.  As  a  result  their  teaching  must  be 
mostly  through  individual  advising  of  pupils  and  parents,  with 
occasional  talks  to  them  upon  important  health  topics.  They 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY  87 

should,  however,  be  very  fully  the  intermediaries  between  the 
home  and  the  regular  teachers  as  to  the  teaching  needs.  In 
their  visiting  of  the  homes  they  come  to  know  exactly  what  is  to 
be  found  on  the  side  of  the  fundamentals.  They  need  to  keep 
the  teachers  within  the  schools  definitely  informed  as  to  what  is 
needed  on  the  side  of  the  supplemental ;  and  they  should  be  the 
supervisors  of  the  content  of  the  work.  The  visiting  school 
nurse  has  functions  beyond  the  mere  physical  ministration  to 
children's  needs  within  the  home.  She  needs  to  perform  a  large 
quantity  of  intellectual  ministration  as  well.  This  brings  us  to 
a  discussion  of  the  medical  department  as  a  portion  of  the 
school  work. 

At  present  the  medical  department  is  only  in  the  beginning 
of  its  development  in  San  Antonio.  An  able  and  well-trained 
physician  is  being  employed  for  a  part  of  his  time.  There  are, 
however,  no  school  nurses  yet  employed.  Their  employment 
constitutes  one  of  the  next  necessary  steps.  To  indicate  the  posi- 
tion of  San  Antonio  in  the  matter  of  money  expended  for  this 
branch  of  educational  service  as  compared  with  the  amounts  ex- 
pended in  other  cities  of  the  same  population  class,  the  situation 
is  presented  in  Table  VI. 

.     Table  VI. 

Expenditure  per  Pupil  for  Promotion  of  Health, 
City  Schools. 


City 

Amount 
Spent. 

City 

Amount 
Spent. 

Hoboken,  N.  J. 

$  78 

Oakland 

$     .66 

Duluth,  Minn. 

.44 

Trenton   N.  J. 

.43 

Richmond,  Va. 

.42 

Camden,   N.   J  

41 

Toledo,  O  

40 

Jersey  City,  N.  J.  . 

40 

Scranton,  Pa. 

$     .38 

Providence    R. 

I                     36 

Norfolk    Va 

36 

Lowell.    Mass. 

.34 

Srmnp-field.  Mass. 

.34 

8S CHAPTER  V. 

Atlanta,  Ga 32        Erie,  Pa 31 

Des  Moines  30         Nashville,  Tenn 28 

Harrisburg,  Pa $  .27 

Spokane  25  Elizabeth,  N.  J 25 

Lynn,  Mass 24  Youngstown,   0 23 

Hartford,  Conn 22  Houston,  Tex 20 

Dayton,  O .*. 19  Grand  Rapids  18 

St.  Paul $  .18 

Birmingham,  Ala 17  Akron,  0 16 

St.  Joseph,  Mo 14  Columbus,  0 12 

SAN  ANTONIO  10  Wilkesbarre,  Pa 10 

Salt  Lake  City 08  Tacoma 05 

The  table  shows  that  San  Antonio  after  less  than  two  years 
of  attention  to  this  department,  finds  itself  in  advance  of  cer- 
tain other  cities,  but  very  considerably  below  the  average  prac- 
tice of  the  cities  in  the  country.  Experience  indicates  that  in 
cities  where  there  are  10,000  to  12,000  children  in  the  schools, 
as  in  San  Antonio,  there  is  needed  the  full  time  of  one  physician ; 
and  for  the  usual  routine  work,  the  full  time  of  two  or  three 
nurses.  It  is  felt  to  be  better  to  employ  one  physician  for  full 
time  than  to  employ  two  physicians  for  half  time.  The  one 
physician  on  full  time  can  specialize  on  this  aspect  of  educational 
labor  and  can  have  no  distractions  and  calls  upon  his  time  of 
the  sort  that  are  unavoidable  in  the  case  of  the  physician  who  is 
at  the  same  time  carrying  on  a  private  practice.  Naturally  in 
employing  a  competent  physician  for  full-time  work  it  is  neces- 
sary to  pay  a  salary  sufficient  to  secure  a  high  type  of  man. 
A  city  of  the  size  of  San  Antonio  will  not  be  able  to  secure  ef- 
fective full-time  service  on  a  salary  of  less  than  $2500.  Two 
properly  trained  school  nurses  ought  to  be  had  at  salaries  similar 
to  those  being  paid  to  teachers. 

The  medical  arm  of  the  service  should  examine  every  pupil 
in  the  schools  at  stated  intervals  and  any  other  pupil  whenever 
any  suspicious  development  presents  itself.  Such  examinations 


EDUCATION  FOR  PHYSICAL  EFFICIENCY 89 

always  reveal  a  large  number  of  incipient  troubles  practically 
all  of  which  can  be  remedied,  if  taken  in  hand  in  time.  Then  it 
is  the  business  of  the  school  nurses  to  follow  up  the  cases  that 
require  attention  through  consulting  with  the  parents  and  ad- 
vising with  them  so  as  to  bring  them  to  give  to  the  children  the 
necessary  medical  attention.  Without  the  school  nurses  not  a 
great  deal  can  be  accomplished  by  the  school  physician  except 
the  examination  for  and  the  isolation  of  contagious  diseases. 
For  other  troubles,  the  physician  working  alone  can  make  out 
formal  cards  and  notify  the  parents ;  but  it  has  been  found  from 
experience  that  such  notifications  are  neglected  in  ninety  pre- 
cent  of  the  cases.  The  result  in  such  cases  is  that  nothing  comes 
of  the  examination  by  the  physician ;  his  time  and  labor  and  the 
community  expense  are  wasted.  Except  for  the  contagious 
disease  side  of  the  situation  the  work  of  the  medical  inspector 
cannot  be  made  profitable  unless  nurses  are  employed  for  fol- 
low-up work. 

All  physicians,  dentists,  and  nurses,  engaged  in  this  work 
should  in  time  be  employed  and  paid  by  the  school  city.  In 
the  immediate  present,  however,  in  the  development  of  the  work, 
the  city  should  make  use  of  any  voluntary  medical  and  dental 
associations  that  might  be  willing  to  donate  their  services.  In 
many  cities,  for  example,  free  dental  clinics  have  been  carried 
on  by  the  dental  fraternity  which  are  for  the  purpose  merely  of 
finding  and  recording  dental  defects.  Parents  can  treat  or  not, 
just  as  they  wish.  In  such  preliminary  dental  examinations 
there  is  absolutely  no  danger  of  dentists  manufacturing  defects 
for  the  sake  of  manufacturing  work  for  their  own  profession. 
Wherever  medical  inspection  has  been  well  developed  it  has  been 
found  that  from  sixty  to  eighty  percent  of  the  children  are  in 
serious  need  of  dental  attention.  The  real  needs  are  so  very 
many  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  dentists  to  point  out  in 
their  examination  defects  which  do  not  exist.  They  exist  in  over- 
abundance and  parents  need  to  have  them  pointed  out.  Parents 
are  negligent  of  their  childrens'  welfare  generally  because  of 
ignorance  of  conditions.  It  is  a  service  to  them  to  have  defects 
pointed  out.  If  they  have  doubts  as  to  the  actuality  of  any 


90 CHAPTER  V. 

defect  found,  they  can  examine  for  themselves.  Such  things  are 
usually  visible  when  one  gives  attention  to  the  matter.  While 
this  is  not  by  any  means  the  best  mode  of  taking  care  of  teeth- 
inspection,  yet  its  advantages  "far  more  than  offsets  its  disad- 
vantages. It  should  be  taken  advantage  of  until  the  city  is 
ready  to  employ  a  school  dentist  for  the  work. 

This  plan  of  voluntary  examination  is  one  that  can  be  em- 
ployed also  in  the  general  medical  examination  which  should 
cover  all  the  children  in  the  city.  It  is  less  easy  to  verify  the 
results  and  recommendations  of  the  examining  physicians  in  the 
case  of  very  many  kinds  of  defects,  and  this  perhaps  is  why 
such  examination  by  voluntary  medical  associations  has  been  less 
employed  than  the  dental  examination.  But  where  there  is  a 
school  physician  employed  by  the  city,  in  all  cases  examined 
where  recommendations  for  treatment  are  made,  their  findings 
can  be  checked  up  by  the  school  physician.  We  would  recom- 
mend such  a  plan  only  until  the  city  could  have  its  own  em- 
ployed physicians  and  school  nurses  to  do  the  work. 

Until  such  routine  examination  has  been  made  of  all  of  the 
children  of  the  city  it  will  not  be  possible  for  San  Antonio  to 
know  the  extent  of  the  need  of  dental  and  medical  attention 
on  the  part  of  its  children.  The  need  is  always  found  to  be  far 
Isrger  than  the  city  suspects. 

The  city  can  afford  the  expense.  Table  VI  shows  that  the 
school  boards  of  most  cities  are'  of  that  opinion.  The  work  is 
not  only  profitable  for  the  physical  education  of  the  children; 
but  it  lays  the  necessary  physical  foundation  for  efficient  educa- 
tional work  in  all  subjects. 

Ill-health  necessarily  slows  down  the  work  in  the  class- 
rooms. Let  us  suppose  that  it  is  slowed  down  one  percent. 
The  cify  is  paying  $600  per  hour  for  every  hour  that  schools 
are  in  session.  They  are  in  session  about  170  days  or  850  hours. 
Every  one  percent  slowing  down  of  the  work  means  a  loss  of 
$5,000  of  money  actually  spent.  If  it  were  spent  on  school 
physicians  and  school  nurses,  their  work  would  save  far  more 
than  one  percent  of  the  school's  time;  and  far  more  than  their 
cost. 


EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS 91 

Chapter  VI. 

EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS. 

Exercise  alone  will  devlop  a  man,  and  this  alone  will  keep 
his  powers  up"tQ  normal  strength.  Kverbody  recognizes  that  this 
i^  true  of  his  muscular  development.  It  is  just  as  true  of  his 
mental  and  social  development.  When  not  exercised  these 
powers  dwindle  and  become  enfeebled  in  just  the  same  way  the 
muscles  grow  soft  and  flabby  and  feeble.  Men  are  old  before 
their  time  and  thrown  upon  the  scrap-heap  because  the  mechan- 
ization of  industry  combined  with  the  lack  of  stimuli  to  other 
kinds  of  mental  exercise  have  left  them  mentally  weak  ond 
flabby.  The  corrective  to  specialized  industry  is  the  possession 
of  a  variety  of  leisure  occupations  and  recreations  on  a  proper 
social  and  mental  level  to  which  one  can  turn  for  his  enjoyment, 
and  in  the  enjoyment  of  which  he  keeps  his  mind  fresh  and 
vigorous.  Recreations  that  involve  social  and  intellectual  ele- 
ments bui]d_  him  out  ajong  the  Hnesjhat  are  left  -neglected  by  his 
narrowing  vocation^ TKeTkiiids  of  normaling  recreations  for 
which  he  needs  training  are  such  as  the  following:  (1)  Read- 
ing concerning  matters  that  touch  all  the  important  angles  of 
human  life ;  reading  about  industry,  commerce,  inventions,  applied 
science,  travel,  biography,  history,  literature,  geographical  and 
social  relationships,  etc.,  etc.  (2)  Conversation,  discussion, 
debates,  lectures,  etc.,  involving  more  personal  contacts  than 
i:i  the  case  of  reading,  but  touching  the  same  fields  of  ideas. 
(3)  Avocations  or  hobbies,  things  that  lie  ouside  of  his  regular 
vocation7~eitHer~^Iosely  related  to  it  or  in  an  entirely  different 
field.  The  man  who  is  continually  taking  up  and  mastering 
new  things  during  his  recreational  hours  will  keep  himself 
intellectually  exercised  in  highly  desirable  ways.  (4)  Travel 
and  observation  of  humaji_aff_ajjcs-.  (5)  Sports,  plays,_games,_ 
and  other  things  already  discussed  in  the  section  on  physical 
education. 

In  discussing  leisure  occupations,  recreations  and  play,  we 
are  treating  things  of  serious  adult  necessity.     They  are  neces- 


92 CHAPTER  VI. 

sary  normalizing  influences  under  conditions  of  our  specialized 
age.  Fortunately  one  enjoys  them;  but  if  there  were  no  results 
other  than  mere  enjoyment  perhaps  the  whole  matter  could  be 
left  to  individual  initiative.  But  the  values  are  deeper  than  mere 
enjoyment.  The  whole  character  of  the^  man  jsjiri  lar^e_jneas- 
ure  the  result  of  his  leisure  occupations.  If  these  are  low,  petty, 
or  sensuaTTthen  in  character,  he  becomes  low,  petty,  and  sensual. 
If  on  the  other  hand  he  lives  in  a  world  of  at  least  moderately 
high  thinking  and  enjoys  living  in  such  a  world;  if  his  recrea- 
tions, his  conversation,  his  reading,  his  observation,  his  sports, 
games,  etc.,  are  upon  a  proper  humanistic  level,  these  things 
make  him  an  entirely  different  type  of  man.  What  a  man  does 
makes  him  what  he  is. 

Here  we  find  the  justification  for  the  teaching  of  so  much 
literature  in  the  schools.  But  when  one  looks  at  the  materials 
used,  and  at  the  methods  of  work,  one  wonders  if  those  in  charge 
of  the  work  have  consciously  defined  their  purposes.  The  pur- 
pose evidently  should  be  the  habit  of  doing  much  reading  of  a 
varied  character.  The  way  to  develop  any  habit  is  to  do  the 
thing  for  a  long  time  in  just  the  way  one  wants  the  habit 
forrtied. 

The  schools  need  therefore  to  offer  the  necessary  facilities 
for  interesting  reading  of  a  varied  character  touching  upon  the 
entire  round  of  things  which  the  adult  should  be  habituated 
to  read.  There  should  be  literature  in  abundance  of  varied 
types,  suited  to  the  comprehension  and  interests  of  the  pupils. 
It  should  be  read  just  as  the  adults  out  of  school  will  be  ex- 
pected to  read, — for  the  sake  of  the  interest  in  the  substance 
of  the  reading  of  the  story.  The  reading  should  be  continuous 
and  moderately  voluminous.  It  should  not  be  much  dissected, 
analyzed,  or  recited  upon.  The  literar^reading  of  the  elementary 
schools^ should_be  rescued_from  the  said  slough  of  methodology 
m  which_it^now  lies  m_San^  Antonio, — the  four  "attacks,"  the 
dictionary  study,  the  diacritical  marks,  the  syllabification,  the 
"interpretation  of  thought  getting,"  the  extraction  of  the  thought 
from  the  pupils  by  minute  piece-meal  quantities,  the  "expression 
or  thought  giving,"  etc.,  etc.  The  mince-meat  method  of  study- 


EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS  _  93^ 

ing  literature_destr.ays  __all_the  Jife_of^it.  A  selection  to  be  ap- 
preciated should  be  taken  up  and  read  through  continuously 
and  enjoyably  from  beginning  to  end.  The  thing  is  not  read  to 
be  "learned."  Most  literature  reading  .should  be  silent  reading 
and  home  reading.  If  the  children  will  not  do  the  reading  with- 
out the  heavy  recitation  driving,  then  the  wrong  selections  have 
been  chosen  for  those  children.  They  must  do  it  all  with  a  rea- 
sonable degree  of  spontaneity,  or  it  will  never  develop  a  per- 
manent leisure  occupation. 

In  the  lists  of  reading  needed  by  men  for  their  leisure  hours, 
reading  of  so-called  good  literature  is  but  one  of  many  things. 
The  world  of  literary  art  is  mostly  a  world  of  fiction.  Much  of  it 
is  so-called,  but  the  poetry,  the  drama,  the  stories,  in  large 
measure  relate  only  to  things  and  incidents  that  have  their  exist- 
ence in  the  world  of  art.  In  a  complicated  world  of  serious  affairs, 
ii  is  probable__lhat^  one's  leisure  reading  should  _relate-4tself 
much  more  with  thelBings  dT~serroiIg~~affairs,  than  with  the 
things  that  exisF"on1y~m  the  worl<T7xf~"arf.  The 


of  pupils  sheukLprobably  bejleyeloped  in  large  measure  in  con- 
nection with  things-ef-4h€-actual  "wor!cr~oF"af  fairs.  The  things 
are  infinite  in  number  and  variety  ;  aTrd~when~wrftten  up  in  pro- 
per fashion  are  just  as  interesting  to  the  boy  or  girl  as  the  fic- 
tions and  subtleties  of  the  world  of  literary  art. 

Give  to  the  boys  full,  voluminous,  well-written  accounts  of 
the  invention  of  the  aeroplane,  of  modifications  as  it  is  being 
improved,  of  different  ways  of  developing  it  in  different  lands, 
stories  of  adventure  in  connection  with  this  machine,  stories  in- 
volving its  uses  and  applications  to  the  various  fields  of  human 
affairs,  reading  as  to  the  scientific  aspects,  mechanical  and  other- 
wise ;  give  to  him  surmises  and  prophesies  as  to  the  ways  it  may 
be  developed  and  used  in  the  future;  and  the  normal  boy  will, 
if  it  is  written  in  the  proper  fashion,  read  the  whole  of  it  with 
interest,  avidity,  and  profit  ;  and  when  one  observes  his  interest 
and  his  intellectual  exhilaration  one  sees  the  absurdity  and  the 
futility  of  using  the  analytic,  mince-meat  method  of  developing 
the  thought  in  his  school  reading.  Misleading  is  actuated  by_th£ 
kind  of  motives  that  we  wish  to  have  prevail  during  his_adult 


94  CHAPTER  VI. 

years.  If  it  is  to  continue  through  his  adult  years,  it  must  be 
formed  during  childhood  and  youth  in  the  way  that  it  is  then 
to  operate. 

Give  the  boy  or  girl  of  San  Antonio  an  interestingly  written 
book  upon  the  cotton  industry,  which  shows  the  nature  of  agri- 
cultural life  upon  the  cotton  plantation,  the  nature  of  the  labors 
there  performed,  the  shipping  and  the  manufacture  of  the  cot- 
ton, the  conditions  of  life  within  the  factory  and  the  factory 
town.  Show  the  processes  performed  within  the  factory  by 
means  of  pictures.  Read  of  the  life  on  cotton  plantations  in 
Egypt,  and  India,  and  Formosa.  Read  of  cotton  manufactures 
in  England  and  Germany,  and  Bombay,  and  Japan,  etc.,  etc. 
When  well-written  and  well-illustrated,  boys  and  girls  will  find 
this  just  as  interesting  reading  and  often  much  more  interesting 
reading  than  the  literary  subtleties  of  the  school  reading  books, 
and  incalculably  more  profitable.  To  make  such  reading  con- 
crete, it  should  introduce  the  personal  in  very  large  measure. 
This  can  be  done  by  introducing  the  things  historically  in  nar- 
rative fashion  and  using  a  great  deal  of  the  biographical  ele- 
ment. 

Before  this  training  for  wide  reading  in  many  fields  can 
be  accomplished,  the  schools  need  to  be  equipped  with  the  neces- 
sary reading  materials.  Whatever  else  has  to  be  cut  out  because 
of  a  lack  of  funds,  this  is  the  one  thing  for  which  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  recommend  immediate  and  generous  expenditures. 
/The  school  board  should  purchase  thousands  of  volumes  of  booKk 

/  relating  to  the  various  departments  of  human  affairs  to  be  used! 

I   in  connection  with  history,  geography,  civics,  industrial  studies;/ 

Vliterature,  etc. 

The  fundamental  world  in  which  the  children  of  San  An- 
tonio live  has  a  relatively  narrow  horizon.  It  covers  but  a  few 
square  miles.  Beyond  this  horizon  stretches  in  every  direction 
the  wide  world  of  industry,  commerce,  transportation,  art,  travel, 
government,  human  institutions,  etc.,  etc.  Although  the  child 
in  San  Antonio  sees  literally  into  this  large  world  of  affairs 
but  a  short  distance,  as  a  matter  of  fact  San  Antonio  conditions 
are  linked  within  the  wide  interconnected  web  of  affairs  that 


EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS 95_ 

lies  out  over  the  whole  face  of  the  globe.     It  is  necessary  for 
San  Antonio  children  in  their  supplemental  education  to  be  given 
a  vision  of  this  wide  world  of  things  and  relations  which  stretches 
out  beyond  the  horizon  to  the  far  side  of  the  earth.     This  is  in 
fact  the  largest  single  task  that  is  placed  upon  the  schools.    Butl 
ir  order  to  accomplish  it,  in  order  that  the  vision  of  these  chil-  t 
dren  may  carry  so  far,  the  necessary  instruments  of  vision  must; 
be  provided.     It  is  these  reading  materials  that  will  permit  them' 
in  their  imagination  to  enter  vividly  into  human  affairs  in  every 
portion  of  the  world.     Because  of  a  lack  of  these  necessary  in- 
struments of  vision,  the  city  is  probably  not  reaping  more  than 
fifty  percent  of  easily  possible  results  for  the  heavy  community 
investments  in  history,  geography,  civics,  science,  literature,  etc: 
After  buildings  are  built  and  manned  with  high-priced  teachers, 
the  investment  should  not  be  half  nullified  by  failure  to  furnish 
the  necessary  tools  for  the  work.    The  public's  faith  in  the  magi- 
cal power  of  teachers  to  accomplish  a  half  million  dollars  worth 
of  work  with  no  tools  but  talk  and  state-adopted  textbooks  is 
mostly  misplaced  faith. 

On  the  side  of  literature  only,  the  Main  Avenue  High  School 
is  much  better  situated  than  the  elementary  schools.  Each 
class  in  addition  to  the  regular  three  or  four  educational  classics 
read  each  year,  is  supplied  in  the  library  with  from  four  to  six 
supplementary  books  of  English  and  American  literature.  The 
books  are  chosen  too  largely  from  the  point  of  view  of  literary 
predilection ;  but  still  the  list  as  a  whole  possesses  a  very  large 
degree  of  human  interest.  They  have  been  furnished  by  the 
board  in  sets  sufficiently  large  that  when  they  are  taken  up, 
each  individual  in  the  class  can  be  supplied  with  a  copy.  Of 
the  forty  sets  or  so  of  such  supplementary  literary  reading,  there 
are  in  the  neighborhood  of  2,000  copies.  So  far  as  it  goes,  this 
is  excellent,  and  indicates  what  the  board  ought  to  do  for  all 
grades  in  the  elementary  schools,  and  also  for  the  wide  range 
of  reading  needed  in  all  the  other  fields  of  the  public  training. 

Let  us  now  glance  briefly  at  certain  other  leisure  occupations 
in  which  training  is  needed.  High  school  students  are  highly 
gregarious  and  have  often  a  tendency  to  organize  in  undesirable 


96 CHAPTER  VI. 

ways.  The  proper  way  to  forestall  this  is  not  to  forbid  adoles-/ 
cent  organizations,  but  to  organize  them  along  socially  desirabld 
lines,  and  to  utilize  the  tremendous  power  of  this  adolescent! 
gregarious  impulse  for  educational  purposes.  At  the  present' 
time  very  much  valuable  work  along  this  line  is  being  done. 
There  are  debating  clubs,  dramatic  clubs,  a  high  school  Congress, 
a  Jeffersonian  Literary  Society,  a  Shakespeare  Club,  a  Mark 
Twain  Story-Telling  Club,  etc.,  etc.  Generally  a  teacher  is 
sponsor  for  the  clubs  and  helps  to  keep  the  pupils'  activities 
upon  a  desirable  educational  level.  Little  needs  to  be  said  con- 
cerning this  work  but  that  it  ought  to  be  continued  and  developed 
in  every  possible  way.  In  time  the  buildings  should  provide 
more  adequately  for  meeting  rooms,  social  rooms,  for  both  after- 
noon and  evening  use.  The  public-speaking  teacher  by  all  means 
'should  be  required  to  be  in  constant  contact  with  the  various 
debating  and  literary  organizations.  The  organization  work 
furnishes  the  motive  and  the  opportunity  for  such  teacher. 

Another  leisure  occupation  of  large  value  is  music.  This 
appears  to  be  developing  in  a  healthy  way  in  the  elementary 
schools.  The  city  is  giving  about  the  average  amount  of  time 
to  it  in  the  grades.  In  the  high  school,  no  mention  whatever  is 
made  of  music  in  any  of  the  courses  of  study,  and  it  is  given 
no  credit.  There  are,  however,  in  the  high  schools,  four  periods 
during  the  week  of  chorus  work,  two  for  boys  and  two  for  girls. 
In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  high  school  orchestra  of  fifteen 
pieces  which  meets  twice  a  week  for  an  hour  or  two  of  practice. 
For  a  city  possessing  so  much  musical  talent  and  so  many  musical 
organizations  as  San  Antonio,  there  is  no  need  of  stopping  here 
to  explain  the  value  of  music  as  a  leisure  occupation  and  the 
desirability  of  the  school's  seriously  training  for  skill,  under- 
standing and  appreciation  of  music  upon  proper  levels.  'fhe 
musical  leaders  of  the  city  should  make  an  organized  demand 
upon  the  schools  for  more  adequate  recognition  of  music  as  a 
legitimate  portion  of  the  high  school  training.  The  high  school 
ought  to  offer  a  full  series  of  courses  and  give  full  credit.  It  is 
the  most  popular  form  of  art,  and  is  certainly  for  the  popula- 


EDUCATION  FOR  LEISURE  OCCUPATIONS 97 

tion  in  general  more  valuable  than  certain  subjects  that  are  now 
taught  in  the  high  school,  for  which  credit  is  given. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter  to  civic 
and  social  teaching,  using  the  school  assembly  rooms  as  civic 
meeting  places.  The  work  can  scarcely  be  made  agreeable  and 
attractive  if  the  meeting  consist  only  of  the  cold  intellectual  dis- 
cussions. Along  with  the  intellectual  factor  there  should  be  an 
abundance  of  art,  music,  drama,  pageant,  etc.,  to  give  warmth 
and  color  and  humanness  to  such  gatherings.  A  high  school 
orchestra  in  a  city  possessing  the  size  and  musical  talent  of  San 
Antonio  should  consist  of  not  less  than  sixty  pieces.  After  ten 
years  of  development,  the  high  school  orchestra,  together  with 
skilled  members  who  have  graduated  and  are  keeping  up  their 
music  in  connection  with  the  school  orchestra  might  well  con- 
stitute a  people's  symphony  orchestra  for  the  city.  The  thing 
has  been  tried  and  has  been  made  to  work  in  other  cities.  Now 
that  music  as  an  element  in  human  life  is  coming  to  be  more 
appreciated  in  our  school  systems,  this  development  of  civic 
music  through  the  high  school  orchestra  is  sure  to  spread  to 
all  of  our  cities  in  time. 

The  orchestra  demands  a  degree  of  musical  specialization 
and  skill  which  can  be  expected  of  relatively  few.  For  the 
majority,  the  less  technical  chorus  is  more  suitable.  The  chorus 
work  of  the  elementary  and  high  schools  can  be  developed  for 
training  purposes  during  school  days ;  and  can  remain  one  of 
the  very  best  of  social  leisure  occupations^  during  adult  life. 
People's  choruses  meeting  in  the  school  assembly  halls  are  sure 
to  grow  as  the  value  of  this  type  of  leisure  occupation  is  more 
appreciated,  and  as  people  find  themselves  sufficiently  skilled 
to  participate  in  it,  through  having  been  trained  in  the  elementary 
and  high  schools. 

A  large  part  of  the  population  will  not  continue  its  musical 
activities,  vocal  or  instrumental,  after  school  days  are  over, 
in  any  systematic  active  way.  For  them  the  training  for  music 
as  a  leisure  occupation  if  rightly  done  has  not  been  lost.  They 
have  been  trained  to  higher  appreciation  and  understanding. 
They  are  the  listeners,  and  this  is  as  much  a  musical  leisure  oc- 


98 CHAPTER  VI. 

ctipation  as  to  be  an  active  performer.  Very  much  of  the  train-j 
ing  therefore,  needs  to  be  for  developing  musical  appreciation! 
This  is  best  developed  through  much  hearing  of  much  good 
music.  The  technical  teaching  of  vocal  music,  the  chorus  work, 
readings  concerning  the  theory  and  the  nature  of  music,  biogra- 
phical readings  of  composers,  etc.,  etc.,  have  a  place  in  the  de- 
velopment of  musical  appreciation.  But  along  with  all  this, 
there  should  be  full  experience  in  hearing  much  music  of  proper 
quality.  This  is  a  further  reason  for  the  development  of  chorus 
work  and  instrumental  work  so  far  as  possible  in  both  elementary 
and  high  schools.  It  is  a  reason  for  introducing  the  Victrola, 
each  with  hundreds  of  records  into  every  school,  and  the  player 
piano.  The  reproductions  furnished  by  these  instruments  is  not 
always  of  satisfactory  musical  quality.  In  a  very  large  percent 
of  the  cases,  however,  with  good  instruments,  the  quality  is 
sufficiently  high  for  developing  an  understanding  of  the  nature 
of  the  world's  best  musical  compositions.  It  can  lay  a  founda- 
tion for  appreciation  accessible  to  all,  which  can  be  used  for  the 
further  refinement,  using  more  satisfactory  instruments  and 
methods. 

Music,  as  far  as  possible,  should  serve  as  the  back-ground 
of  all  sorts  of  social  activities  of  the  children  from  the  kinder- 
garten to  the  end  of  the  high  school.  This  is  already  worked  out 
in  the  kindergarten.  Music  needs  to  be  given  its  proper  place 
in  connection  with  the  gymnastic  and  folk  games,  pageants,  pro- 
cessions, marches,  theatricals,  evening  entertainments,  morning 
exercises,  celebration  of  feast  days,  etc.  Music  has  a  large  place 
in  human  life  as  the  accompaniment  of  action ;  as  such  it  serves 
as  an  emotional  intensifies 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 99 

Chapter  VII. 

ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING. 

On  the  side  of  English,  naturally  every  child  in  San  Antonio 
should  be  trained  to  read  well  enough  for  his  life's  activities ;( 
to  'spell  well  enough  for  any  writing  that  he  may  have  to  do  which/ 
is  to  be  read  by  others,  but  not  to  learn  to  spell  words  that  he  will, 
not  use  in  his  writing;  to  learn  enough  grammar  to  keep  his 
language  correct  enough  for  any  circumstances  under  which  he« 
may  use  it,  and  not  to  give  him  any  grammar  beyond  that  which 
i?  needed  for  such  correctness ;  to  spend  such  time  in  polishing 
up  his  pronunciation  as  may  be  demanded  by  the  language  ofl 
the  social  class  in  which  he  is  to  move  and  act,  but  not  to  expend!, 
energy  in  polishing  his  pronunciation  much  beyond  that  which 
is  actually  required  for  future  social  participation  in  his  own 
social  class;  and  finally  to  give  him  such  power  to  express  his 
ideas  orally  and  in  writing  as  he  may  need  for  his  life's  activities. 

The  city's  investment  in  English  language  teaching  for  the 
current  year  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  $210,000.  This  invest- 
ment is  large  enough  to  warrant  careful  examination  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  work  and  of  the  results.  The  situation  should  be 
carefully  scrutinized  to  see:  (1)  That  the  things  aimed  at  in 
the  language  teaching  are  things  that  are  really  needed.  (2) 
That  nothing  is  aimed  at  which  is  not  needed.  (3)  That  every- 
thing which  is  needed  and  which  can  reasonably  be  done  is  aimed 
at.  (4)  And  that  effective  methods  of  work  are  employed. 

READING. 

What  reading  is  done  by  adults  for  which  training  is  needed 
in  the  schools? 

Every  man  and  every  woman  needs  to  read  for  ideas,  sug- 
gestions and  information  in  connection  with  the  things  of  their 
callings ;  in  connection  with  civic  and  political  problems ;  for 
recreation;  and  for  the  general  social  enlightenment  that  comes 
from  newspapers,  magazines  and  books.  These  are  about  the 
only  reasons  for  reading  that  most  people  will  ever  have. 


100  CHAPTER  VII. 

All  this  will  be  silent  reading.  Now  when  reading  matter 
is  so, cheap  and  everybody  knows  how  to  read  and  can  read 
silently  so  much  more  rapidly  than  he  can  read  aloud,  oral  read- 
ing- has  practically  fallen  into  disuse.  Ask  the  first  hundred  men 
and  women  you  meet  on  the  street  how  much  time  per  week  they 
give  to  oral  reading,  you  will  find  that  the  vast  majority  do 
none  at  all.  For  the  very  few  who  do  read  orally  occasionally, 
you  will  find  that  in  the  case  of  nearly  all  of  them  the  quality 
of  their  oral  reading  depends  chiefly  upon  the  understanding 
of  the  substance  of  what  they  are  reading;  upon  their  thinking 
habits  developed  in  connection  with  their  silent  reading ;  and 
upon  their  emotional  life  and  the  quality  of  their  personality. 
They  will  tell  you  that  the  training  for  "expressive  reading" 
over  which  the  elementary  school  agonizes  so  greatly  was  in 
their  case  mostly  so  much  waste  of  time.  Their  "expression" 
depends  chiefly  upon  the  quality  of  their  minds,  their  fullness 
of  general  understanding,  their  emotions,  their  enthusiasm  and 
their  interest  in  the  thing  they  read,  and  not  upon  the  superficial 
attempts  to  put  "expression"  into  their  oral  reading  during  school 
days.  Expression  is  developed  mainly  by  developing  quality 
of  personality.  The  purpose  of  teaching  reading  then 
appears  to  be  silent  reading  for  ideas,  ease  of  reading,  rapid 
reading,  and  ability  to  get  all  the  ideas — at  least  a  full  quantity 
of  them — as  one  goes  along  rapidly  through  the  book  or  article. 

Having  this  common-sense  purpose  in  mind,  any  man  or 
woman  of  good  judgment  can  prescribe  the  method  to  be  used. 
It  is  simply  much  practice  in  silent  reading  of  the  type  desired. 
It  is  simply  a  voluminous  reading  of  interesting  and  valuable 
books,  newspapers  and  magazines.  After  the  first  grade  has 
taught  the  symbols  and  started  the  pupil  along  this  road,  in  the 
excellent  way  that  one  now  finds  being  done,  the  main  thing 
is  to  give  him  large  quantities  of  good  things  to  read ;  and  things 
good  to  read.  He  needs  opportunity,  guidance,  and  stimulation ; 
but  beyond  these  he  does  not  need  much  "teaching." 

The  things  needed  for  the  training  are  books,  magazines,  and 
newspaper  articles.  They  should  'be  things  of  worth  that  can 
be  so  recognized  by  the  pupils.  They  should  be  well  written, 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


interesting  and  suited  to  the  pupils'  comprehension.  When  these 
are  supplied,  the  things  further  needed  are  more  books,  more 
magazines,'  and  more  well-written  sensible  newspaper  articles. 
And  after  these,  —  still  more. 

This  does  not  mean  so  great  an  expense  to  the  school  city 
as  may  at  first  sight  appear.  Twenty-five  thousand  books  will 
cost  little  as  compared  with  the  enormous  waste  that  now  results 
from  trying  to  teach  history,  geography,  literature,  civics,  science, 
etc.,  without  the  indispensable  voluminous  reading  materials  ; 
and  books  can  be  circulated  from  school  to  school  so  that  a  pur- 
chase of  one  book  per  pupil  may  well  mean  during  the  year  a 
reading  of  ten  books  per  pupil. 

At  the  present  time  the  reading  work  of  the  San  AntonioX 
schools  is  struggling  in  the  quagmire  of  pedagogic  methodology.  )' 
Note  the  order  of  procedure  in  developing  a  reading  lesson  as 
presented  in  a  circular  sent  out  to  all  of  the  schools  as  directions 
for  the  work  : 

"Order  of  Development  in  Reading. 

1.  —  Word  drill  for  pronunciation: 

(1)  write  words  upon  the  board 

(2)  number  them 

(3)  syllabify 

(4)  accent 

(5)  mark  with  diacritical  marks. 

2.  —  Study  period  with  'a  motive'  —  for  thought  mastery. 

3.  —  Interpretation  or  thought  getting: 

(1)  pivotal  thought  first 

(2)  modifiers  second 

(3)  To  be  conducted  in  either  of  two  ways  —  teacher 
reading  and  questioning  for  the  thought  or  pupils 
reading  silently,  closing  books,  and  teacher  ques- 
tioning.   N.  B.     Both  methods  should  be  used  from 
time  to  time  as  the  subject  matter  demands. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


4.  —  Study  period  for  practice  in  getting  thought  and  for 

word  and  phrase  mastery. 

5.  —  Expression  or  thought  giving: 

(a)  articulation  exercise 

(b)  position  of  pupils  in  front  of  audience  with  head 
up,  chest  expanded  or  lifted,   (chin  in),  both  feet 
flat  upon  the  floor  and  book  held  easily,  either 
with  one  or  both  hands. 

(c)  audience  —  the  main  body  of  the  class  and  the  teach- 
er.   N.  B.   The  teacher  should  be  across  the  room 
from  the  reading  section.       :, 

(d)  Correction  of  errors  —  kindly  criticism  first  and  then 
attention  to  errors. 

(1)  If  emphasis  or  inflexion  is  at  fault,  question  for 
the  thought. 

(2)  If  word  mastery  is  at  fault,  go  back  to  word  list 
and  help  through  phonics. 

(3)  If  phrase  mastery  is  faulty  have  silent  reading 
for  concentration. 

N.   B.     In   some  cases   errors   can  be   corrected   only 
through  imitation." 

Every  piece  -of  reading  matter  taken  up  is  chopped  to  bits. 
It  is  not  read  through  rapidly  and  silently  and  enjoyably  for  the 
STke  of  the  ideas,  the  inspiration,  and  the  emontional  and  aesthetic 
exhilaration  and  stimulation.  This  is  not  found  in  the  list  at 
all.  The  piece  is  dissected,  the  various  parts  torn  asunder;  its 
life  destroyed  by  too  much  teaching  elaborateness.  The  method 
laid  down  in  this  circular  will  never  develop  "ease  of  reading, 
rapid  reading,  and  ability  to  get  all  the  ideas"  as  one  reads  rapidly 
and  silently  through  a  selection. 

The  teachers  are  not  to  blame.  They  have  had  to  spend  a 
full  year  on  a  textbook  that  any  normal  child  rightly  trained 
can  read  through  in  twelve  or  fifteen  hours.  Looking  at  it  from 
the  pupils5  point  of  view  the  material  is  not  enough  to  give  them 
sufficient  practice  for  acquiring  vocabulary,  or  facility  of  read- 
ing; so  the  teacher  has  to  help  develop  all  the  details.  On  the 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 103 

other  hand,  with  such  a  meager  material  for  a  year's  work,  the 
teacher  is  practically  forced  to  develop  elaborate  ways  of  wast- 
ing- time  in  order  to  use  it  all.  To  permit  the  purchase  of  one 
supplemental  reading  book  by  each  pupil  each  year  is  a  help ; 
but  it  goes  only  a  little  way.  A  man  who  has  only  one  loaf  for 
a  month's  food-supply  is  not  greatly  helped  by  a  second  loaf. 
The  situation  is  a  tragic  one  for  both  pupils  and  teachers. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  depreciating  word- 
study,  phonics,  pronunciation,  diacritical  marks,  etc.  Each  of 
these  is  necessary,  and  each  has  its  proper  place.  But  its  place 
is  but  preliminary  and  incidental  to  more  important  things. 

To  take  care  of  and  to  circulate  systematically  and  economi- 
cally needed  reading  materials,  the  city  should  have  a  central 
depository  and  circulating  facilities.  At  present  the  small  cir- 
culating school  library  is  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the  building 
principals.  But  when  the  matter  is  developed,  it  cannot  be 
handled  in  any  such  simple  way.  The  school  board  will  do  best 
perhaps  to  enter  into  a  co-operative  arrangement  with  the  city 
library  whereby  it  may  serve  as  depository  and  also  care  for 
the  circulation  of  the  books.  The  books  should  be  selected  by 
the  teachers  and  supervisors  and  purchased  by  the  school  city. 
The  librarian  can  co-operate  in  highly  valuable  ways  in  the 
selection  of  the  books.  But  at  bottom  the  selections  must  grow 
out  of  the  educational  work  of  the  schools.  Ultimate  responsi- 
bility for  the  selection  of  every  book  used  in  the  schools  must 
rest  upon  those  whom  the  city  has  made  responsible  for  educa- 
tion. 

SPELLING. 

In  the  elementary  schools  of  San  Antonio  nine  percent  of 
the  total  time  is  given  to  spelling.  The  city's  annual  investment 
is  in  the  neighborhood  of  $40,000. 

The  average  amount  of  time  given  to  spelling  in  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  is  seven  percent  of  the  whole.  The  extra 
two  percent  given  to  this  work  in  San  Antonio  costs  the  city  an 
extra  $9,000.  This  might  well  be  saved  and  devoted  to  other 
needed  things. 


104      ' CHAPTER  VII. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  efficiency  of  the  results  in  San 
Antonio  in  spelling  a  test  that  has  been  standardized  was  given. 
This  test  consists  of  one  hundred  common  words  practically  all 
of  which  are  used  by  children  in  the  first  grade  in  their  oral 
conversation,  but  which  are  difficult  enough  as  a  test  of  gram- 
mar grade  or  even  high  school  spelling  ability.  This  same  test 
has  been  given  in  about  fifty  cities  of  Illinois.  The  relative 
standing  of  San  Antonio  in  each  of  the  grades  as  compared  with 
these  fifty  cities  is  shown  in  Chart  I. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


105 


/9  IS 


m  if 


4?  /J 


c       FZT. 


106          ' CHAPTER  VII. 

The  heavy  lines  marked  M  for  each  of  the  grades  represent 
the  average  spelling  ability  for  these  Illinois  cities.  The  upper 
thin  line  marked  Q-3  in  each  case  is  a  measure  that  divides  the 
upper  half  of  the  cities  into  two  equal  portions.  The  lower  thin 
line  marked  Q-l  divides  the  lower  half  of  all  of  the  cities  into 
two  equal  portions.  Between  Q-l  and  Q-3  are  to  be  found  the 
middle  fifty  percent  of  all  of  these  cities.  With  this  standard 
as  a  background  the  standing  of  each  of  the  various  buildings  in 
San  Antonio  where  the  test  was  made  is  shown.  Each  number 
represents  the  school  of  that  number.  Teachers  and  laymen  can 
read  from  the  chart  the  average  standing  of  each  grade  in  each 
school,  as  compared  with  these  current  standards  of  practice 
found  in  Illinois.  In  the  chart,  seventh  grade  in  San  Antonio 
is  compared  with  the  Illinois  standard  for  eighth  grade.  For  the 
other  grades  the  Illinois  standards  have  been  reduced  so  as  to 
fit  them  to  a  seven-year  school  organization.  That  is  to  say, 
sixth  grade  in  San  Antonio  is  compared  with  a  point  a  little  below 
seventh  grade  in  Illinois ;  and  likewise  with  the  others. 

In  this  comparison,  San  Antonio  stands  rather  high.  When 
we  observe  the  amount  of  time  given  to  the  spelling,  especially 
it  we  take  into  account  also  the  additional  time  given  to  phonics 
and  word-development,  we  should  certainly  expect  San  Antonio 
to  attain  high  rank. 

How  well  does  one  need  to  spell  ?  One  spells  in  the  normal 
course  of  adult  life  only  when  he  writes.  Naturally  he  needs 
to  spell  only  the  words 'that  he  will  use  in  his  writing;  especially 
that  which  is  intended  for  the  eyes  of  other  people.  For  most 
people  this  will  be  in  their  personal  letters,  in  an  occasional 
brief  business  letter  ordering  goods  or  acknowledging  receipt  of 
goods,  in  memoranda,  or  something  of  the  sort.  The  list  of 
words  used  in  such  personal  and  business  letters  is  not  large., 
Mr.  Ayre's  studies  indicate  a  number  between  2,000  and  3,000, 
niost  of  which  are  the  easy  words  of  every  day  life  which  people 
do  not  seriously  misspell,  if  they  have  much  writing  to  do. 
Probably  the  best  list  yet  made  is  the  one  based  upon  children's 
actual  writing  by  Professor  Jones  of  the  University  of  South 
Dakota.  This  list  of  4532  words  used  by  children  will  cover 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 107 

all  the  necessary  spelling  needs  of  ninety-five  percent  of  our 
adult  population.  If  only  the  words  of  this  list  that  are  actually 
missed  by  children  were  taught  and  if  only  the  pupil's  were 
taught  who  actually  missed  the  words,  then  the  spelling  labors 
of  San  Antonio  elementary  schools  might  well  be  cut  down  to 
one-half  or  less  of  the  time  that  is  now  given  to  it,  and  yet  serve 
all  of  the  practical  needs  of  this  ninety-five  percent  of  the  people, 
it  does  not  matter  if  they  do  misspell  a  word  in  their  writing  now 
and  then.  Their  writing  is  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  thought 
to  somebody  else.  If  misspelled  words  are  so  rare  as  not  really 
to  interfere  with  this  conveyance  of  thought,  no  real  harm  is 
done.  The  schools  do  not  strive  after  absolute  perfection  for  the 
masses  of  the  people  in  far  more  important  things  than  spelling. 
It  is  therefore  rather  a  work  of  supererogation  to  strive  for  such 
perfection  in  the  mere  spelling  of  personal  letters. 

We  are  here  discussing  general  popular  education,  the  onl 
thing  that  the  elementary  schools  are  expected  to  take  care  of. 
We  are  not  here  discussing  the  technical  vocational  spelling  that 
is  absolutely  indispensable  for  certain  highly  specialized  voca- 
tional classes.  A  stenographer,  and  especially  a  proof  reader, 
should  be  able  to  spell  almost  any  word  that  comes  along.  Book- 
keepers, accountants,  copyists,  clerical  people  in  general,  news- 
paper compositors,  etc.,  need  for  their  special  vocational  pur- 
poses, to  be  able  to  spell  with  a  high  degree  of  accuracy  a  wide 
range  of  words.  But  training  to  this  degree  of  perfection  is 
specialized  vocational  training. 

When  the  public  schools  are  accused  of  not  teaching  people 
to  spell  well  enough,  the  thing  usually  meant  is  that  these 
relatively  small  vocational  classes  are  not  taught  well  enough. 
This  is  generally  true.  In  the  attempt  to  bring  the  total  mass 
of  the  population  all  to  the  same  level,  the  result  is  general 
mediocrity  everywhere,  and  a  failure  to  reach  that  high  ability 
which  is  actually  needed  by  certain  clerical  vocations.  The 
defect  is  not  to  be  remedied  by  forcing  everybody  to  learn  to  spell 
as  well  as  needed  by  compositors,  proof-readers  and  stenog- 
raphers. The  general  population  is  to  be  brought  up  to  that 
level  which  is  needed  by  the  general  population;  and  then  the 


108 


CHAPTER  VII. 


specialized  workers  only  are  to  be  given  more,  so  as  to  bring 
them  to  the  demands  of  the  vocational  level.  This  additional 
work  is  a  task  for  the  high  school  commercial  course.  It  is 
distinctly  not  a  task  for  the  elementary  schools,  which  are  min- 
istering to  the  general  needs  of  the  population. 

Will  the  business  and  professional  men  of  San  Antonio 
indicate  the  frequency  with  which  they  have  had  occasion  to 
use  each  of  the  following  words  in  their  correspondence  or  other 
writing  during  the  past  year?  These  words  are  taken  from  a 
list  of  about  1200  words  that  are  studied  in  the  sixth  grade 
of  the  San  Antonio  schools. 


antithesis 

vagary 

beneficiary 

ascetic 

equipage 

petulancy 

Sabbatarian 

hauteur 

nugatory 

fulgency 

guillotine 

aureole 

scuppernong 

plasticity 

monocle 

phonetics 

impecunious 

percussion 

solecism 

binnacle 

acquiesce 

demurrer 

colporteur 

embrasure 

laminate 

lexicographer 

cuirass 

thespian 

colonnade 

ceramic 

imbroglio 

homonym 

syllabic 

javelin 

phrenology 

stultify 

celerity 

argosy 

coeval 

panoply 

cedilla 

orthoepy 

glossary 

lethargy 

egregious 

lapidary 

piquant 

verbosity 

cauterize 

pagoda 

pectoral 

mnemonics 

labial 

landau 

aspirate 

maelstrom 

seraphic 

chenille 

fealty 

chancery 

coalition 

sibilant 

fusillade 

myriad 

buccaneer 

acerbity 

suffusion 

acclivity 

Many  of  these  words  are  unintelligible  to  adults.  Practi- 
cally none  of  them  are  in  the  active  writing  vocabulary  of  adults  in 
general.  The  1200  words  in  the  spelling  book  taught  to  the  sixth 
grade  are  just  as  unintelligible  to  the  sixth  grade  pupils  as  this 
selection  from  them  is  to  adults  in  general.  Very  few  of  them 
are  in  the  active  writing  vocabulary  of  the  children.  It  is  a 
waste  of  time,  labor,  and  money,. to  teach  the  spelling  of  words 
that  are  not  understood ;  or  which  are  not  used  in  one's  written 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING  109_ 

work.  Children  in  this  grade  are  expected  to  do  dictionary  work 
by  way  of  finding  the  meanings  of  the  unfamiliar  words,  and 
then  to  use  the  words  in  artificially  constructed  sentences  by 
way  of  proving  that  they  know  the  meaning  of  the  words.  This 
type  of  dictionary  work,  this  method  of  galvanizing  words  into 
the  semblance  of  life  by  using  them  in  sentences,  this  spelling 
of  words  that  are  mostly  unknown  and  almost  wholly  alien 
to  one's  writing  vocabulary  flies  in  the  face  of  every  sound 
principle  of  educational  method. 

How  does  one  learn  the  spelling  or  words  ?     Let  us  mention 
six  things : 

(a)  By  much  reading.     One's  fundamental  understanding 
of  how  words  are  spelled  is  mainly  developed  through  frequent 
seeing  of  those  words  in  one's  reading.     When  one  reads  in  the 
full   way   that   seems   desirable   in   a   well-developed   system   of 
education,  the  mental  picture  of  most  words  is  so  indelibly  fast- 
ened in  one's  mind  that   in  one's  writing  one  will   easily  and 
naturally  without  particular  thought  give  to  most  words  the  cor- 
rect spelling  form.    There  are  large  numbers  of  indivduals  who 
need  very  little  spelling  training  beyond  this, — after  the  primary 
grades  are  passed.     It  is  less  effective  with  others. 

(b)  By    watchfulness    over   one's    spelling   as    one    writes 
his  letters,  reports,  compositions,  etc.     If  pupils  can  be  brought 
to  a  habit  of  watching  their  writing  so  as  never  to  put  down  a 
word  unless  there  is  at  the  same  time  confident  judgment  that 
their  spelling  is  correct,  then  there  are  very  few  words  that  will 
get  by  the  student.     This  should  be  the  main  purpose  in  teach- 
ing spelling.     The  purpose  is  not  that  pupils  be  able  to  spell 
long  lists  of  words  without  making  mistakes ;   but  rather  the 
habit  of  looking  intimately  into  the  structure  of  the  words  they 
use  in  their  writing  so  as  to  be  continually  watchful  and  continu- 
alfy  confident  as  they  write  that  their  spelling  is  correct.     This 
habit  of  watchfulness  is  to  be  developed  by  requiring  that,  in 
every  letter,  report,  composition,  etc.,  every  word  written  shall 
be  spelled  correctly.     The  requirement  should  be  absolute  with 
no  exceptions  permitted. 


110 CHAPTER  VII. 

(c)  The  habit  of  going  to  the  dictionary  or  to  their  word- 
list  whenever  there  is  any  doubt  in  their  minds  as  to  the  spell- 
ing of  any  word  which  they  are  using  in  their  writing.     Such 
dictionary  work  need  only  be  supplemental  and  occasional.     It 
can  be  enforced  by  requiring  that  every  piece  of  written  work 
shall  be  rewritten  entirely  if  it  contains  so  much  as  a  single  mis- 
spelled word.     Such  a  requirement  will  engender  the  habit  of 
scrutinizing  the  words  as  they  are  written  and  of  going  to  the 
dictionary  or  to  their  word-list  when  there  is  any  doubt.   Merely 
to  have  pupils  erase  and  correct  misspelled  words  in  their  papers 
misses  the  purpose  altogether.     The  right  or  wrong  spelling  of 
a  single  word  in  a  composition  is  in  itself  a  matter  of  little  mo- 
ment.    The  significant  thing  is  the  habit  of  looking  into  all 
words  written,  and  the  habit  of  putting  down  no  word  until 
there  is  confident  judgment  that  it  is  being  spelled  correctly ; 
and  the  habit  of  going  to  the  dictionary  in  case  of  any  reasonable 
doubt. 

(d)  The  systematic  supplemental  study  by  the  pupils  of 
all  the  words  which  they  miss.    This  means  that  pupils  who  do 
not  miss  words  in  their  written  work  are  not  to  be  required  after 
the  earlier  grades  are  passed  to  study  spelling  in  the  spelling 
classes.     Just  as  medical  treatment  is  not  given  those  who  are 
not   ill,   so   supplemental    spelling   treatment   is   not   needed   by 
those  who  make  no  mistakes  in  their  writing.    Just  as  the  nature 
of  the  medical  treatment  needed  by  an  individual  is  indicated 
by  the  nature  of  the  trouble,  so  the  nature  of  the  spelling  drill 
and  training  needed  by  those  who  need  the  teaching  is  indicated 
by  the  particular  trouble  involved, — that  is  to  say,  by  the  par- 
ticular words  that  are  missed,  or  before  which  the  pupils  are 
doubtful.    Treatment  must  be  specifically  adapted  to  the  nature 
of  the  disease  and  not  be  simply  a  general  dosage  with  the  hope 
that  something  out  of  all  that  is  administered  will  reach  the  seat 
of  the  difficulty.    General  dosage  in  spelling  is  just  as  irrational 
as  general  dosage  in  medicine. 

(e)  Phonic  training  in  the  primary  grades.     In  the  begin- 
ning the  phonics  and  the  spelling  need  to  be  more  or  less  con- 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


sciously  isolated  so  that  children  will  get  the  spelling  of  the 
simple  basic  vocabulary  that  they  use. 

(f)  Word-study.  At  higher  levels  in  the  elementary  school 
and  even  in  the  high  school,  there  should  be  certain  word  studies 
of  the  rapid  preliminary  type  dealing  with  prefixes,  suffixes, 
synonyms,  homonyms,  etc.  The  actual  understanding  of  these 
matters  of  word-study  will  necessarily  be  developed  in  its  funda- 
mental aspect  in  their  wide  reading.  The  preliminary  studies  are 
to  make  them  conscious  of  word-elements.  The  mistake  should 
not  be  made,  however,  of  expanding  necessary  studies  of  the 
preliminary  type  into  abstract  elaborate  didactic  disciplines. 
This  is  done  in  the  word-study  in  the  spelling  classes  of  the 
seventh  grade  where  they  give  a  full  year  to  prefixes,  suffixes, 
synonyms,  homonyms,  etc.  Such  work  is  abstract,  relatively 
meaningless,  and,  after  the  preliminary  ideas  are  got  by  the 
pupils,  relatively  profitless. 

Who  is  the  good  speller?  It  is  one  who  has  acquired  the 
habit  of  watchfulness  over  the  spelling  of  words  that  he  writes. 
Bad  spelling  is  not  generally  caused  by  one's  not  having  studied 
lists  of  words.  It  is  generally  because  he  is  not  watchful,  and 
has  not  the  habit  of  being  sure  of  every  word  as  he  puts  it  down 
and  of  looking  up  every  doubtful  one.  If  one  is  so  stupid  that 
ht  cannot  be  brought  to  such  a  habit  of  watchfulness  in  connec- 
tion with  his  written  work  without  an  undue  amount  of  labor 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  then  he  is  one  who  never  will  occupy 
a  clerical  position  that  will  require  good  spelling.  The  latter 
will  be  no  more  a  necessity  to  him  than  Sanskrit  to  a  coal-heaver. 
Sensible  business  men  should  not  permit  their  money  to  be  spent 
in  the  useless  task  of  trying  to  give  an  accomplishment  to  those 
who  will  not  use  it. 

Probably  not  less  than  half  the  time  now  devoted  to  the 
teaching  of  spelling  and  not  less  than  half  of  the  $40,000  now 
invested  in  the  teaching  of  spelling  could  be  saved  and  invested 
in  other  needed  educational  work, 


112 CHAPTER  VII. 

VOCABULARY  AND  PRONUNCIATION. 

In  connection  with  both  the  reading  and  the  spelling,  much 
valuable  time  is  now  wasted  on  diacritical  marks,  dictionary 
work,  and  "using  words  in  sentences."  The  purpose  of  these 
pedanticisms  appears  to  be  teaching  the  meaning  of  words  and 
the  pronunciation  of  words.  The  methods  used,  however,  are 
not  the  kinds  that  can  possibly  succeed. 

How  does  one  learn  the  meaning  of  words  ?  This  is  learned 
from  frequently  meeting  those  words  in  their  natural  setting 
in  oral,  written,  and  printed  speech  where  they  are  carrying  in 
sentences  their  natural  freight  of  meaning.  It  is  through  hear- 
ing words  used  in  meaningful  speech,  and  through  voluminous 
reading.  Occasionally  there  is  a  word  the  meaning  of  which  is 
not  sufficiently  clear  from  this  hearing  and  reading.  One  must 
occasionally,  therefore,  go  to  a  dictionary;  but  only  when  the 
thought  of  the  sentence  refuses  to  convey  the  meaning  of  the 
word.  This  is  the  only  legitimate  use  of  the  dictionary,  on  the 
side  of  meaning.  One  does  not  learn  the  meanings  of  words 
from  a  dictionary.  He  learns  them  mainly  from  their  setting  in 
the  living  speecn  where  they  are  met  with.  Even  when  he  goes 
tc  the  dictionary  for  a  word  he  takes  with  him  a  knowledge  of 
the  general  current  of  thought  in  that  reading,  so  that  the  dic- 
tionary meaning  of  the  word  is  merely  to  fill  in  a  gap  in  the  en- 
tire current  of  thought.  A  word  is  not  really  a  part  of  speech 
when  it  is  not  being  used  for  saying  something.  It  can  really 
be  studied  only  as  it  is  a  part  of  actual  speech,  carrying  its  usual 
load  of  meaning.  The  dictionary  work  should  always  be  supple- 
mentary, and  used  only  as  a  last  resort.  Moreover,  it  should  be 
kept  in  mind  that  children  can  get  the  thought  of  their  reading 
if  it  is  the  sort  adapted  to  them  without  knowing  the  meaning  of 
every  word  they  meet  with.  The  meaning  will  be  gradually 
bourne  in  upon  their  minds  from  a  frequent  meeting  with  the 
words  in  their  reading. 

How  does  one  learn  the  pronunciation  of  words?  Clearly 
the  fundamental  method  of  learning  the  pronunciation  of  words 
is  the  hearing  of  words  used  by  one's  parents,  friends,  associates, 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING H3 

and  teachers.  Properly  developed  school  work  should  involve  a 
wider  vocabulary  than  the  usual  home  and  therefore  the  hearing 
of  the  correct  pronunciation  of  more  words  than  one  would 
normally  hear  anywhere  else.  Naturally  the  school  therefore 
expects  to  do  a  considerable  part  of  this  work ;  but  pronunciation 
is  learned  chiefly  through  this  unconscious  imitation.  Occasion- 
ally children  bring  to  school  faulty  pronunciation  of  words 
learned  outside  which  require  correction.  Sometimes  the  pro- 
nunciation of  a  word  is  required  which  has  not  been  heard. 
There  needs,  therefore,  to  be  certain  preliminary  phonic  train- 
ing as  to  the  proper  sounds  of  the  various  letters  and  the  mean- 
ing of  diacritical  marks.  One  must  then  resort  to  the  dictionary 
occasionally  for  verifying  or  correcting  one's  pronunciation.  This 
needs  to  be  done  only  in  cases  of  error  and  of  doubt.  It  is  to  be 
done  only  by  those  who  make  mistakes ;  and  in  connection  with 
only  those  words  that  involve  mistakes.  As  in  the  spelling  the 
principal  thing  is  the  development  of  a  habit  of  watchfulness 
over  one's  pronunciation,  and  a  habit  of  looking  up  doubtful 
words.  Each  pupil  should  have  a  list  of  the  words  that  ex- 
perience has  shown  him  he  needs  to  watch.  These  are  all  that 
he  needs  to  study. 

Taking  long  lists  of  unfamiliar  words,  having  them  looked 
up  in  the  dictionary,  syllabified,  harnessed  up  with  diacritical 
marks,  spelled,  and  "used  in  sentences"  is  a  pedantic  educational 
absurdity  that  is  costing  a  huge  amount  of  wasted  time  and 
labor  on  the  part  of  teachers  and  children  and  many  wasted 
thousands  of  dollars  on  the  part  of  the  taxpayers  each  year. 
The  schools  are  costing  the  city  $600  an  hour  for  each  hour  they 
are  in  sesion.  In  the  elementary  schools  certainly  not  less  than 
one-half  hour  each  week  is  wasted  in  the  labors  above  referred 
to.  This  amounts  to  a  goodly  sum  each  year  which  if  devoted 
to  needed  reading  matter  would  accomplish  infinitely  more. 

HANDWRITING. 

San  Antonio  elementary  schools  devote  7.5  percent  of  their 
total  teaching  time  to  handwriting.  The  average  amount  of  time 
given  to  the  subject  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  is  5.8  per- 


114 CHAPTER  VII. 

cent  of  the  total  time,  or  1.7  percent  less.  San  Antonio's  current 
annual  investment  in  handwriting  is  around  $33,000.  If  the 
percent  of  time  given  to  the  subject  were  the  same  as  that  of  the 
country  in  general,  the  saving  would  be  at  least  $7,000. 

In  the  quality  of  the  handwriting  results  obtained  San  An- 
tonio is  doing  just  about  average  work.  The  recent  handwriting 
survey  of  American  cities  by  Professor  Frank  N.  Freeman  offers 
the  necessary  means  of  comparison.  The  handwriting  tests  made 
in  San  Antonio  were  uniform  with  the  tests  made  in  thirty-two 
other  American  cities  including  Boston,  New  York,  St.  Louis, 
Cleveland,  Milwaukee,  St.  Paul,  San  Francisco,  etc.  The  relative 
handwriting  quality  of  these  cities, — average  for  all  of  the  grades 
beginning  with  the  third, — is  shown  in  Chart  II. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING  115 


Chart  II. — Showing  average  quality  of  handwriting  in  33 
American  cities :  New  York,  Buffalo,  Omaha,  South  Bend,  El 
Faso,  Canton,  Davenport,  Denver,  Detroit,  Tacoma,  Syracuse, 
Yonkers,  Savannah,  Seattle,  etc.  The  position  of  the  numbers 
represents  the  relative  positions  of  the  cities  on  the  Ayre's  scale. 
San  Antonio  is  represented  by  S.  A., — exactly  average  standing. 


116      CHAPTER  VII. 

The  heavy  line  marked  M  shows  the  medium  grade  of  work 
done  in  these  cities  as  measured  on  Ayre's  scale ;  the  lighter 
line  Q-I  marks  the  middle  of  the  lowest  half  of  the  cities ;  the 
upper  light  line  Q-III  marks  the  middle  of  the  upper  half  of  the 
cities,  on  the  scale.  Between  Q-I  and  Q-III  are  to  be  found 
half  of  the  cities  of  the  country.  One  quarter  of  the  cities  are 
so  successful  as  to  stand  upon  the  scale  above  the  line  Q-III. 
One  quarter  of  the  cities  are  doing  work  of  such  poor  quality  as 
to  fall  below  the  line  Q-I.  It  will  be  observed  that  San  Antonio 
is  quite  near  to  the  average.  It  is  doing  work  that  compared  with 
that  of  cities  in  general  is  neither  high  nor  low.  For  an  extra 
amount  of  time  given,  it  is  getting  an  average  amount  of  result, 
on  the  side  of  quality  of  writing. 

Speed  of  writing  in  number  of  letters  per  minute  as  com- 
pared with  that  in  the  other  thirty-two  cities  is  show  in  Chart  III. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING  117 


47 

70 


Chart  III. — Showing  speed  of  handwriting  in  33  American 
cities  in  letters  per  minute.    Each  number  represents  a  city. 


118      CHAPTER  VII- 

The  city  stands  high  in  the  matter  of  speed.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  examiners  were  somewhat  generous  in  their 
allowance  of  time.  For  this  reason  before  being  satisfied  with 
the  figures  here  presented,  the  city  should  make  another  speed 
test  under  conditions  that  would  not  permit  variations  in  the 
amount  of  time  used  in  different  buildings.  The  chart  shows 
a  standard  for  speed  determined  by  the  general  practice  of  cities 
through  the  country  in  terms  of  which  San  Antonio  can  measure 
herself  at  any  time  she  likes. 

Charts  IV  and  V  show  how  the  grade  averages  in  San  An- 
tonio in  quality  and  speed  compare  with  corresponding  averages 
in  the  thirty-two  cities.  As  in  the  spelling,  the  seventh  grade  in 
San  Antonio  is  compared  with  the  eighth  grade  in  these  many 
cities,  and  the  average  standards  properly  equated  for  lower 
grades. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


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120 CHAPTER  VII. 

It  is  valuable  for  the  supervisory  officials  of  San  Antonio 
to  observe  the  difference  of  standing  in  handwriting  quality  and 
speed  in  the  different  buildings  in  the  city.  Chart  VI  shows  the 
variation  in  the  fifth  and  seventh  grades.  The  standards  used 
as  background  for  the  comparisons  are  those  of  the  thirty-two 
cities. 


ENGLISH  LANGUACxE  TRAINING 


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122        CHAPTER  VII. 

Chart  VII  shows  corresponding  differences  of  schools  on 
the  side  of  speed.  The  number  of  letters  written  per  minute  in 
certain  schools  is  remarkable.  Teachers  in  the  slower  schools 
ought  to  visit  them  and  see  how  it  is  done.  The  results  ought 
first,  however,  to  be  verified  by  a  more  carefully  controlled  test. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 


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124 CHAPTER  VII. 

For  the  formal  training  in.  handwriting  the  city  has  adopted 
an  excellent  system.  Although  there  is  no  special  supervisor 
to  look  after  the  writing,  yet  it  appears  that  the  teachers  are 
informed  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure.  The  city  has  not,  how- 
ever, set  up  speed  standards  or  quality  standards  for  the  various 
grades.  Such  standards  are  desirable  for  defining  the  ends  of 
one's  labor.  Naturally  the  standards  would  be  for  the  average 
of  classes  and  not  for  the  individual  attainment  of  pupils.  More- 
over, such  standards  would  naturally  be  different  for  different 
buildings  in  the  city. 

People  should  be  taught  at  public  expense  to  write  only  so 
well  as  they  need  to  write  for  carrying  on  their  various  daily 
affairs.  This  means  that  clerical  people,  bookkeepers,  account- 
ants, clerks,  copyists,  etc.,  should  be  trained  to  high  quality  and 
high  speed.  At  the  other  end  of  the  scale  we  have  unskilled 
labor,  factory  workers,  farmers,  carpenters,  plumbers,  black- 
smiths, seamstresses,  laundry  workers,  housewives,  etc.,  who 
need  only  to  write  a  simple  plain  hand  with  only  a  moderate 
amount  of  speed.  They  do  little  writing  and  if  the  school  ex- 
pends time,  labor  and  money  in  bringing  them  up  to  a  high 
standard,  they  will  naturally  sink  back  to  a  relatively  low  level 
because  of  their  little  need  of  this  accomplishment.  The  city  is 
justified  in  spending  money  for  the  actual  educational  needs  of 
the  whole  population.  It  is  justified  in  spending  more  to  teach 
handwriting  to  certain  classes  of  the  population  than  to  others. 
It  is  not  justified,  however,  in  spending  money  on  any  class 
for  a  quality  of  writing  in  excess  of  real  social  needs.  The  city 
is  now  doing  this.  Democratic  education  does  not  mean  identical 
education  for  everybody.  It  means  only  giving  everybody  an 
equal  opportunity  for  the  education  which  he  actually  needs. 
While  this  will  mean  expending  more  money  upon  one  social 
class  for  handwriting  than  upon  a  second  class,  the  matter  will 
be  balanced  by  spending  more  upon  this  second  class  for  certain 
other  things  which  they  actually  do  need  and  less  upon  the  first 
class  for  those  things. 

In  the  elementary  schools  the  fundamental  training  in  hand- 
writing should  be  the  practice  that  the  pupils  get  in  connection 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 125 

with  all  of  the  written  work  that  they  do.  The  work  in  the 
various  subjects  should  involve  a  fairly  generous  quantity  of 
paper  work, — the  solving  of  problems,  the  writing  of  reports 
on  various  topics,  compositions,  letters,  outlines  of  work,  etc., 
etc.  All  such  written  work  of  pupils  should  be  kept  in  perma- 
nent note-books.  Every  paper  written  should  be  in  good  form, 
whatever  the  subject.  The  pupils  should  be  required  to  re-write 
it  if  it  is  not  in  as  good  form  as  he  has  done  in  previous  papers 
as  shown  by  those  in  his  note-book.  The  best  that  he  has  done 
is  the  standard  to  which  he  is  to  be  held.  When  held  to  that 
standard  he  will  every  once  in  a  while  go  beyond  it,  and  produce 
a  paper  that  is  still  better.  This  better  one  becomes  then  his 
standard.  And  so  he  climbs  on  the  basis  of  his  own  work  step 
by  step  to  a  standard  of  quality  that  is  considered  satisfactory  by 
the  teacher.  From  that  point  forward  in  that  particular  grade 
all  that  is  required  of  him  is  that  he  keep  all  of  his  written  work 
to  that  one  standard  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  This  plan  permits 
different  standards  for  different  pupils  within  a  class.  It  per- 
mits a  standard  that  the  pupil  can  understand  and  appreciate 
and  know  is  actually  attainable  for  all  time.  Standards  of  writ- 
ing developed  in  this  way  should  be  accumulated  and  kept  per- 
manently within  the  class-room  as  objective  standards  that  can 
be  examined  by  the  children  of  that  grade  for  a  comparison  of 
their  work  with  what  is  deemed  desirable  for  that  grade.  These 
permanently  kept  standards  should  be  those  that  have  been  em- 
ployed for  various  types  of  pupils  ranging  from  those  poorest 
in  their  writing  to  those  that  are  the  best.  They  should  be 
ranged  in  a  series  in  such  a  way  that  any  pupil  can  see  whether 
his  work  is  most  like  that  at  the  poor  end  of  the  scale,  or 
whether  it  is  like  that  at  the  best  end  of  the  scale. 

When  all  of  the  written  work  of  the  pupils  is  used  in  this 
way  as  the  basis  of  their  training  in  quality  of  writing,  much, 
even  most  of  the  writing  drill  that  is  now  given  can  be  dis- 
pensed with.  Certain  preliminary  writing  teaching  is  absolutely 
indispensable  in  the  lower  grades.  A  very  small  amount  of  this 
preliminary  training  perhaps  needs  to  be  continued  throughout 
the  grades  for  the  sake  of  keeping  fresh  in  mind  the  elements  of 


126 j CHAPTER  VII. 

handwriting,  ideas  as  to  speed,  movement,  letter  formation,  qual- 
ity of  line,  spacing,  etc.  It  can  be  safely  said,  however,  that  half 
of  the  time  that  is  now  given  to  the  writing  drill  beyond  the  pri- 
mary grades  may  well  be  dispensed  with  if  only  all  of  the  paper 
work  of  the  pupils  is  made  the  basis  of  their  training  in  hand- 
writing. 

The  writing  needed  for  the  class  papers  of  the  children  is 
really  as  good  as  will  ever  be  needed  for  anything  that  ninety 
percent  of  them  will  ever  write.  The  majority  of  the  children  in 
school  after  they  leave  the  school  will  write  nothing  more  than 
letters,  certain  personal  accounts,  memoranda,  etc.  The  writing 
need  be  no  better  nor  any  more  rapid  than  that  needed  for  the 
actual  paper  work  in  the  school  classes.  If,  therefore,  practically 
all  of  the  special  writing  drill  work  of  the  grade  above  the  pri- 
mary were  dispensed  with  and  the  pupils  held  only  to  careful 
work  in  their  current  paper  work,  enough  writing  training  would 
be  given  to  the  majority.  Most  people  do  not  need  to  write  very 
well.  The  main  thing  is  the  habit  of  writing  carefully  and 
plainly. 

A  small  percent  of  the  pupils  need  to  be  thoroughly  drilled 
in  speed,  quality,  proper  movement,  and  all  of  the  other  things. 
Writing  is  for  them  a  vocational  need.  Training  for  this  writ- 
ing is  special  vocational  training.  It  is  not  necessary  that  all 
of  the  children  shall  become  specially  skilled  in  the  elements  of 
clerical  vocations  simply  because  a  few  are  in  great  need  of  this 
skill.  In  the  elementary  school  it  is  not  generally  known  into 
what  vocation  one  is  to  go.  For  this  reason  it  is  not  possible 
for  the  elementary  schools  to  begin  to  give  specialized  vocational 
training  in  any  great  measure.  The  elementary  schools  can  only 
take  care  of  the  usual  needs  that  are  common  to  the  entire  popu- 
lation. This  means  the  development  of  a  good  plain  hand  of 
moderate  speed  in  connection  with  the  general  paper  work.  It  is 
in  the  high  school  where  students  should  receive  their  special 
vocational  training,  some  in  one  field,  some  in  another.  Those 
who  are  to  go  into  clerical  vocations  should  be  given  most  rigor- 
ous and  intensive  handwriting  drill  in  the  high  school  commercial 
department.  The  thing  is  not  now  done.  It  should  be,  however, 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING  127 

si  as  not  to  force  the  elementary  school  to  do  a  wasteful  quantity 
of  vocational  drill  work  for  classes  that  do  not  need  it. 

Schools  are  often  accused  by  business  men  of  failure  to 
bring  up  the  writing  quality  of  the  pupils  to  a  sufficiently  high 
standard.  This  accusation  comes  because  the  pupils  who  are 
going  into  clerical  vocations  are  not  brought  up  to  sufficiently 
high  standards.  The  attempt  to  bring  all  to  the  same  standard 
necessitates  one  that  is  too  low  for  one  type  of  pupil  and  much 
too  high  for  another  type.  It  means  failure  and  inefficiency 
of  the  schools  in  taking  care  of  the  needs  of  the  clerical  pupils, 
and  it  means  waste  of  time  and  money  in  taking  care  of  the  needs 
oi  other  much  larger  classes.  For  the  relatively  small  group  of 
people  that  enter  clerical  vocations  the  business  man's  accusation 
is  justified.  For  the  eighty  or  ninety  percent  of  the  people  who  do 
not  go  into  such  vocations,  an  exactly  opposite  complaint  is  the 
one  that  would  be  justified. 

GRAMMAR,   LANGUAGE,   COMPOSITION. 

The  current  annual  investment  in  these  matters  in  San  An- 
tonio is  about  $50,000. 

What  is  the  purpose  of  this  investment? 

It  is  that  the  people  growing  up  in  San  Antonio  shall  not 
make  mistakes  in  their  oral  and  written  speech.  It  has  no  other 
purpose.  One's  fundamental  grammatical  habits  are  learned 
through  one's  social  associations.  On  the  side  of  positive  help 
in  their  speech  or  writing,  grammar  can  do  little  or  nothing. 
Its  sole  value  is  the  negative  one  of  aiding  in  avoiding  errors. 

What  mistakes  do  the  young  people  growing  up  in  San  An- 
tonio make  that  the  city  should  think  it  advisable  to  invest  so  ex- 
travagant a  sum  in  corrective  grammar?     It  appears  that  the 
city  is  teaching  the  grammar  without  having  made  any  attempt 
to  find  out.     At  present  San  Antonio  is  simply  administering  a"\ 
good-sized  dose  of  grammar  from  every  bottle  in  the  grammatical/ 
pharmacopoeia  without  any  previous  diagnosis  of  actual  com- 
munity needs,  simply  hoping  that  some  of  the  things  will  find 
the  right  spot.     Perhaps  some  of  them  will ;  but  it  is  a  tremend- 


128       ' CHAPTER  VII. 

otisly  wasteful  way.  Many  of  the  things  given  certainly  will  be 
of  no  service  and  time  has  been  lost  which  ought  to  have  been 
devoted  to  useful  matters ;  and  children  are  driven  from  the 
schools  by  maddening  abstract  useless  things  before  their  essen- 
tial education  is  complete. 

Until  diagnosis  is  made  of  the  kinds  of  errors  that  need 
grammatical  treatment  the  city  might  do  well  to  borrow  the  re- 
sults of  such  a  diagnosis  made  of  conditions  in  Kansas  City, 
Missouri.  It  was  there  found  that  grammar-grade  children  in 
oral  and  written  speech  made  twenty-seven  kinds  of  grammatical 
errors.  With  the  exact  errors  known,  a  city  can  easily  choose 
those  portions  of  grammatical  knowledge  needed  for  the  pur- 
poses of  correction ;  and  the  city  can  know  equally  well  just  what 
portions  of  grammar  need  not  be  taught.  The  city  can  choose 
the  kinds  of  things  needed  for  correcting  errors  made  by  chil- 
dren who  come  from  homes  in  which  a  good  quality  of  language 
is  spoken.  They  will  find  different  kinds  of  errors  and  needs 
of  different  kinds,  in  the  case  of  children  of  the  Mexican  schools. 
Still  different  will  be  the  errors  and  the  grammatical  needs  of  the 
Negro  schools.  The  present  method  of  administering  the  same 
grammar  to  everybody  is  no  more  wise  than  for  a  physician  to 
prescribe  the  same  series  of  medicines  to  all  people  however 
different  be  their  diseases.  The  schools  should  clearly  note  the 
purpose  of  the  grammar,  teach  just  what  is  needed,  teach  all  that 
is  needed,  and  teach  no  more  than  is  needed.  From  the  Kansas 
City  study  it  appears  that  the  grammar  classes  might  dispense 
with  a  fairly  large  portion  of  the  things  that  are  now  being 
taught. 

The  schools  of  San  Antonio  should  not  only  know  the  nature 
of  the  errors  in  the  speech  of  the  children  and  of  the  adults 
of  the  city  and  the  proper  corrective  grammar  that  needs  to  be 
given,  but  they  should  also  see  that  the  two  *are  brought  together 
in  the  way  to  secure  the  correction  of  the  trouble.  The  gram- 
matical knowledge  in  the  children  is  for  the  purpose  of  helping" 
them  to  watch  their  own  language  and  for  guiding  them  in  their 
efforts  to  keep  speech  and  writing  correct.  This  grammar  takes 
effect  only  as  the  pupil  uses  it  to  keep  his  speech  correct.  Educa- 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING  129 

tion  is  accomplished  not  in  the  abstract  learning  of  the  grammat- 
ical facts,  but  in  putting  them  to  practice.  If  the  learning  of 
the  school  is  not  closely  related  to  practice,  it  quickly  evaporates 
and  disappears ;  and  the  work  is  mostly  lost.  The  time  and  the 
money  and  the  labor  are  wasted.  One  large  criticism  of  the 
grammar  work  in  San  Antonio  is  that  it  is  not  brought  into  such 
relation  with  the  language  uses  of  the  children  as  to  enable  them 
to  put  it  into  practice.  Each  thing  is  simply  taught  in  the  ab- 
stract at  a  certain  time  of  the  year  because  it  is  laid  down  for 
that  time  of  the  year  in  the  course  of  study,  and  is  met  with  at 
that  time  in  the  textbooks.  It  is  not  brought  up  in  connection 
with  the  troubles  to  be  corrected  just  at  the  time  that  these 
troubles  occur;  yet  this  is  the  time  and  the  only  time  when  the 
grammar  can  take  effect  in  such  way  that  it  will  accomplish 
its  purppse. 

Naturally  certain  preliminary  grammatical  teaching  is  neces- 
sary, which  will  cover  lightly  and  rapidly  all  the  various  neces- 
sary portions  of  the  subject.  When  the  schools  use  materials 
suited  to  the  preliminary  type  of  teaching,  and  suited  to  the 
degree  of  maturity  of  the  children,  they  can  cover  a  great  deal 
o;  ground  in  a  comparatively  short  time.  It  is  necessarily  super- 
ficial. It  is  unapplied.  It  is  merely  an  over-view  of  the  whole 
subject  to  provide  vocabulary,  perspective,  and  foundation. 
Probably  one  lesson  a  week  to  the  subject  so  organized  for  pre- 
liminary purposes  is  sufficient.  Beyond  this  the  training  should 
consist  mainly  of  application  by  the  pupils,  the  teacher's  work 
being  simply  for  stimulation,  encouragement,  diagnosis,  prescrip- 
tion of  actually  needed  corrective  drills,  checking  up  the  expres- 
sion of  the  pupils  so  as  to  hold  them  responsible  for  making  ap- 
plication of  their  grammatical  knowledge,  etc.,  etc. 

How  and  where  can  children  make  application  of  their  gram- 
matical knowledge  so  as  to  drive  it  home?  Children  recite 
in  all  of  their  subjects.  They  need,  therefore,  to  express  their 
thoughts  clearly,  effectively,  and.  correctly  in  all  of  these  sub- 
jects. They  should  be  held  for  correct  grammatical  oral  speech 
in  all  their  subjects.  This  gives  them  very  large  opportunity 


130 CHAPTER  VII. 

for  applying  their  grammatical  knowledge  and  for  fixing  good 
grammatical  habits. 

Let  us  remark  parenthetically  that  this  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  all  recitations  are  to  be  in  complete  sentences.  In 
natural  conversation  elliptical  expressions  are  very  common. 
It  is  only  an  artificial  pedanticism  that  will  freeze  up  the  natural 
flow  of  the  children's  speech  by  insisting  on  the  elimination  of 
natural  ellipses  and  the  use  of  complete  sentences  on  all  occas- 
ions. Elliptical  speech  is  grammatically  just  as  correct  as  any 
other ;  and  since  people  are  going  to  use  it  when  they  go  out 
into  the  world,  they  may  as  well  get  practical  training  in  the  cor- 
rect use  of  it  in  the  schools. 

Much  of  the  recitation  work,  however,  will  consist  of  con- 
nected oral  discourse.  In  history  pupils  should  stand  and  relate 
in  connected  manner  the  series  of  events  making  up  an  entire 
historical  movement.  They  should  often  talk  two,  three,  or 
five  minutes  connectedly.  In  geography  work  rightly  taught, 
in  civics,  in  literature,  in  applied  science,  in  industrial  studies, 
etc.,  where  schools  are  supplied  with  a  proper  abundance  of 
reading  material,  it  is,  possible  to  have  individual  pupils  bring 
to  the  class  a  great  wealth  of  facts  unfamiliar  to  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  class  which  they  will  report  orally.  These  reports 
constitute  the  very  best  means  of  training  in  oral  expression. 
Naturally  here  the  complete  sentences  are  the  only  ones  that  are 
proper  and  natural. 

In  most  of  such  recitations  the  thought  of  the  subject 
under  consideration  is  the  main  thing;  the  language  is  but  the 
instrument  of  expression.  The  attention  of  the  class  must  not 
be  diverted  from  the  principal  line  of  thought.  When  the  reciter 
therefore,  makes  a  grammatical  mistake  the  main  recitation  topic 
must  not  be  temporarily  side-tracked  and  attention  given  to  the 
individual  error  of  a  single  pupil.  This  is  to  keep  the  entire 
class  waiting  while  individual  attention  is  given  to  an  error  that 
pertains  only  to  the  speech  of  the  one  pupil.  Such  dropping  of 
the  class  work  wastes  the  time  of  the  class  and  produces  an  un- 
warranted confusion  of  dissimilar  threads  of  thought.  The  reci- 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING       131 

tation  topic  has  the  right-of-way  for  the  class,  and  it  should  not 
be  side-tracked  for  anything  of  lesser  importance. 

During  the  recitation  the  pupil  must  do  his  own  watching 
over  correctness  of  his  language.  This  is  the  only  way  he  can 
get  the  necessary  practice  training  that  will  give  him  independent 
power  to  keep  his  language  correct.  He  cannot  always  expect 
to  have  an  instructor  at  his  elbow  to  do  his  grammatical  thinking 
for  him.  As  he  recites  he  must  know  that  his  language  among 
other  things  is  being  watched  by  the  teacher,  and  that  opposite 
his  name  in  her  note-book  any  errors  that  he  makes  are  being  set 
down ;  and  that  before  the  day  is  over,  at  least  before  he  has  for- 
gotten his  recitation,  he  and  the  teacher  will  have  a  private  con- 
ference about  how  to  correct  the  particular  types  of  error  that 
he  has  made.  This  after-class  personal  conference  consumes 
the  time  of  only  the  pupil  who  needs  the  attention.  It  centers 
his  thought  on  the  trouble  when  there  is  nothing  else  demanding 
his  attention.  It  helps  him  to  realize  that  the  thing  is  regarded 
as  an  important  part  of  his  education,  and  not  a  mere  recitation 
incidental.  This  realization  helps  him  to  remember  and  to  keep 
a  closer  lookout  next  time.  It  also  incites  him  to  get  clear  in 
mind  the  necessary  grammatical  knowledge  to  apply  in  time  of 
need.  Then  after  a  few  victories  on  his  part,  the  teacher's  part 
is  mostly  done  so  far  as  that  particular  error  goes.  From  that 
time  on  he  can  do  his  own  watching  and  fix  the  thing  in  irrevoc- 
able habit.  He  is  always  aware  of  course  that  the  teacher's  ear 
will  continue  to  note  any  slip  that  he  may  make ;  as  well  as 
appreciate  his  victories.  Since  there  are  only  some  twenty-five 
or  thirty  different  kinds  of  errors  usually  made,  and  since  most 
of  these  require  comparatively  little  teaching  and  chiefly  atten- 
tion and  care  on  his  part,  the  length  of  the  task  need  not  be  such 
a  very  long  one. 

Many  students  will  require  very  little  of  the  teacher's  time. 
They  are  the  type  that  come  from  good  homes  in  which  the 
fundamental  education  of  family  associations  has  accomplished 
most  of  their  language  education..  These  are  the  exceptions, 
however.  The  majority  will  require  considerable  personal  atten- 
tion to  keep  them  to  their  application  of  their  grammatical 


132 CHAPTER  VII. 

knowledge.  The  amount  of  work  demanded  of  the  teacher  will 
depend  very  largely  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  done.  If  the 
pupil  feels  and  knows  that  there  is  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  a 
real  interest  in  his  problem,  and  if  as  a  consequence  of  this  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  the  teacher  she  is  sympathetic  and  personally 
stimulating,  a  little  individual  attention  may  go  very  far.  If, 
however,  the  teacher's  work  is  impersonal,  perfunctory,  mechani- 
cal ;  or  worse,  if  she  is  nagging  and  querulous,  a  great  deal  of 
work  may  do  but  little  good.  It  is  economy  in  the  end  to  employ 
only  strong,  sympathetic,  inspiring  teachers  even  though  a  much 
higher  price  has  to  be  paid. 

But  after  all  is  done,  even  in  the  best  spirit,  there  will  be 
certain  pupils  who  will  not  be  very  successful  in  keeping  their 
language  straight.  Let  it  be  set  down  in  their  case  that  nature 
never  intended  them  to  be  speakers ;  and  that  it  is  presumptuous 
for  man  to  try  to  undo  nature's  decrees.  It  is  like  attempting 
to  make  a  heavy-weight  pugilist  or  a  piano-mover  out  of  a  man 
normally  only  five  feet  tall  and  weighing  a  hundered  pounds. 
Weakness  should  be  respected.  It  should  be  recognized  by  teach- 
ers as  a  perfectly  normal  thing.  The  weak  should  be  brought 
up  to  a  degree  of  strength  normal  for  them,  but  with  no  attempt 
to  bring  them  to  the  strength  of  the  strong.  In  the  plan  of  gram- 
mar-teaching here  recommended,  the  teacher  will  not  be  over- 
worked in  trying  to  bring  up  all  of  the  weak.  To  twenty  or 
thirty  percent  of  the  pupils  she  will  leave  a  sufficiently  recogniz- 
able measure  of  their  natural  weakness,  knowing  that  they  will 
never  enter  into  walks  of  life  demanding  more  correct  speech. 
Even  among  the  most  cultured  classes,  if  one  has  ideas  to  ex- 
press, and  agreeable  manner  of  utterance,  good  taste  in  the  choice 
of  his  words,  etc.,  a  moderate  amount  of  grammatical  incorrect- 
ness is  of  little  or  no  consequence.  This  is  much  more  the  case 
with  those  who  are  to  be  unskilled  laborers,  factory  workers, 
farmers,,  carpenters,  etc. 

Another  field  of  application  of  their  grammatical  informa- 
tion will  be  the  written  work  of  the  pupils.  There  should  be 
some  of  this  in  connection  with  every  subject, — history,  geog- 
raphy, literature,  arithmetic,  science,  civics,  hygiene,  etc.  And 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 133 

this  writing  should  be  their  composition.  In  keeping  all  of  it 
correct,  their  grammar  is  applied.  It  can  be  done  much  more 
slowly  by  the  pupils  than  oral  work.  They  can  revise  it  and 
correct  it  in  a  more  leisurely  way.  For  this  reason,  pupils  can 
here  be  held  far  more  strictly  responsible  for  the  application  of 
their  grammatical  knowledge.  Every  piece  of  written  work  that 
they  produce  which  contains  so  much  as  a  single  grammatical 
eiror  should  be  re-written  entirely.  The  main  thing  is  that  the 
pupil  be  stimulated  to  keep  a  watch  upon  the  grammatical  cor- 
rectness of  his  utterance  as  he  goes  along.  Merely  to  erase  and 
correct  an  error  here  and  there  that  is  pointed  out  by  the  teacher 
does  not  get  at  the  difficulty.  Weeding  out  incorrectness  is  not 
the  end  in  view.  The  end  is  the  development  of  a  habit  of  watch- 
fulness. The  keeping  of  all  papers  that  the  student  writes  in  per- 
manent note-books  can  be  made  a  great  aid  in  carrying  out  this 
work.  The  other  details  will  be  much  the  same  as  already  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  oral  training. 

In  certain  of  the  buildings  visited  in  San  Antonio,  the 
upper  grades  in  connection  with  their  composition  work  were 
preparing  outlines,  developing  subjects  in  the  class,  then  writ- 
ing them  out,  the  original  draft  of  which  is  corrected,  and  re- 
written by  the  pupils.  These  compositions  are  then  all  kept  in 
a  losse-leaf  note-book, — a  highly  commendable  feature.  The 
thing  which  seems  to  be  specially  needed  is  a  development  of 
such  work  in  connection  with  the  history,  geography,  physiology, 
civics,  etc,  so  that  these  subjects  may  furnish  the  thought  that  is 
to  be  expressed,  the  composition  being  only  the  writing  up  of 
this  thought.  This  would  permit  the  complete  elimination  of  the 
present  composition  class.  The  composition  teacher  who  was 
securing  the  best  results  that  I  saw  said:  "I  don't  like  the  com- 
position work.  I  can't  get  the  children  to  respond.  It  does  not 
seem  to  go.  There  is  something  the  matter  that  needs  to  be 
solved."  This  is  very  true.  The  thing  the  matter  is  that  the  com- 
position work  is  done  in  a  class  where  the  children  have  nothing 
to  say.  Such  a  situation  is  the  worst  possible  one  for  expression. 
The  prime  condition  of  expression  is  the  having  of  something 
to  say.  Therefore,  most  at  least  of  the  composition  class-time 


134     '' CHAPTER  VII. 

should  be  dropped  from  the  program  and  the  time  added  to  the 
content  subjects  for  written  expression  there. 

What  has  been  said  with  reference  to  the  technical  informa- 
tion and  its  application  in  the  elementary  school  is  generally 
applicable  to  the  high  school  as  well.  At  present  one  year  and  a 
half  of  the  high  school  English  class-work  is  devoted  to  gram- 
mar and  composition-rhetoric.  The  course  prescribes  one  com- 
position a  week  in  the  first  year,  one  every  two  weeks  in  the 
third  year,  and  one  a  month  in  the  fourth  year.  The  high  school 
grammar  and  rhetoric  training  have  much  the  same  weaknesses 
as  the  grammar  training  in  the  elementary  school.  It  is_simply 
taught  in  the  abstract;  and  this  is  to  miss  the  whole  purpose 
of  the  t^Chinji?  Composition  worTTTs  developed  in 'the  classes 
where  the  pupils  have  nothing  to  say.  It  needs  to  be  developed 
ir,  the  classes  in  science,  in  history,  in  industrial  studies,  in  com- 
mercial geography,  civics,  household  occupations,  etc.,  etc.,  where 
the  children  do  have  things  to  say,  if  the  work  is  properly  done. 
Four-fifths  of  all  of  the  training  in  English  expression  in  the 
high  school  should  be  accomplished  in  connection  with  the  oral 
and  written  work  of  the  content-subjects. 

But  high  school  teachers  are  specialists  in  other  subjects, 
we  are  told ;  and  they  refuse  to  accept  the  responsibility  for  train- 
ing pupils  in  correctness  and  effectiveness  of  expression.  This 
i?>  not  what  they  are  employed  to  do.  Moreover,  they  are  not 
specialists  in  English  and  claim  that  they  cannot  do  it.  In  this 
connection  three  things  need  to  be  said :  (1)  Effective  thought 
in  a  subject  is  the  thing  desired  by  the  special  teacher  of  that 
subject.  To  be  such,  it  must  be  clear,  orderly  and  sequential.  If 
the  pupils  are  successful  in  thinking  through  the  topics  covered, 
then  they  must  think  them  through  clearly,  systematically,  and 
sequentially.  The  teacher  can  know  that  their  thinking  is  of  the 
right  type  only  as  they  express  it  in  careful,  exact,  orderly  fash- 
ion, either  orally  or  written.  As  they  accomplish  their  work  best 
for  him,  they  attain  the  best  type  of  expression  of  that  thought. 
Orderly  thinking  and  orderly  expression  are  different  phases  of 
the  same  thing.  Effective  expression,  therefore,  is  in  fact  a  part 
of  his  work.  Effectiven^^«rr5«iressiQEu4s-4iie  only  thing-  aimed 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 135 

a  in  the  teaching  of  rhetoric  and  of  composition  in  the  English 
classes.  TrTfT'special  teachers  of  content-subjects  are  better  in 
position  to  teach  it  than  the  English  teachers.  (2)  It  is  only 
when  the  pupils  have  something  to  express  that  conditions  are 
normal  for  training  in  expression.  Only  the  content-subjects 
afford  them  this  opportunity.  (3)  Special  teachers  in  the  high 
school  are  apt  to  look  upon  their  work  as  subject-teaching  rather 
than  the  education  of  youth.  Even  if  convinced  of  the  truth 
or  the  two  foregoing  propositions  they  will  still  tend  to  neglect 
the  expression  side  of  the  work  as  the  basis  of  training.  When 
they  do  s^they^aj^_jie^e£dn^the  thougl^^id£a.s__well.  Here 
we  find  a  fundamental  task  for  the  highschool  principal.  It  is 
his  business  to  keep  the  balance  true  and  to  keep  every  kind 
of  work  going  on  in  every  department  that  needs  to  go  on  in 
each  of  these  departments.  He  is  employed  to  hold  the  various 
high  school  teachers  responsible  for  doing  the  things  that  they 
should  do.  If  he  is  unable  to  do  so  in  any  specific  case,  then 
either  he  needs  to  get  a  new  teacher  for  that  high  school  position 
or  the  high  school  needs  to  get  a  new  principal. 


136       fc CHAPTER  VIII. 

Chapter  VIII. 

THE    TEACHING    OF    CERTAIN    SUBJECTS. 

In  previous  chapters  certain  subjects  have  been  sufficiently 
discussed  as  to  both  content  and  method;  others  have  been 
touched  upon  insufficiently  or  not  at  all.  We  wish  in  this  chapter 
t>  call  attention  to  certain  matters  that  have  been  insufficiently 
treated. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

Geography-teaching  in  San  Atnonio  is  textbook-learning. 
The  textbook  used  is  as  good  as  any  upon  the  market.  The  plan 
ot  teaching  is  the  one  that  is  usual  in  most  cities.  The  chief  dif- 
ference perhaps  is  that  San  Antonio  has  a  somewhat  smaller 
supply  of  the  so-called  supplementary  geographical  reading  than 
the  average  cities  of  her  size.  But  on  the  whole  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  think  that  the  geography  results  obtained  are  either  better 
or  worse  than  the  average  of  results  in  cities  in  general.  To 
say  that  the  geography  work  is  about  average  in  quality  is  not 
to  commend  it  as  one  would  wish.  Taking  cities  in  general,  the 
subject  is  barrenly  handled  and  badly  taught.  Without  stopping 
to  discuss  weaknesses  observed,  let  us  proceed  at  once  to  sketch 
a  better  plan.  The  city's  current  annual  investment  in  this  sub- 
ject is  at  least  $30,000.  The  city  can  well  afford  to  study 
methods  of  making  the  work  more  efficient. 

The  efficiency  of  the  work  can  be  doubled  in  my  opinion 
by  taking  care  of  two  things,  both  of  which  involve  a  third : 
(1)  Employing  the  method  of  geographic  experience  instead 
of  the  method  of  textbook  learning.  (2)  Choosing  geographical 
topics  on  the  basis  of  social  needs.  (3)  The  possession  of  an 
abundance  of  reading  materials  which  reveal  human  situations  in 
a  human  way  throughout  the  world;  and  incidentally,  enough 
pictures  and  other  objective  materials  for  showing  details  of  such 
situations. 

Let  us  illustrate  first  the  difference  between  experiential 
learning  and  textbook  learning.  It  is  clear  to  any  resident  of 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 137 

San  Antonio  that  the  way  for  any  outsider  to  learn  their  city 
is  not  merely  to  have  a  map  and  one  textbook  page  of  condensed 
information  concerning  the  industries,  inhabitants,  commerce, 
races,  the  river,  etc.,  of  San  Antonio.  Such  skeleton  reading  is 
a  pretty  poor  substitute  for  experience.  It  can  be  read  and  re- 
read until  the  words  are  remembered;  but  the  city  will  not  be 
known.  The  way  to  actually  learn  the  city  is  to  go  through  the 
streets,  see  the  people,  the  houses,  the  yards,  the  shrubbery,  the 
parks,  the  street  cars,  the  business  houses,  etc.,  etc.,  and  to  mingle 
\\i£h  the  people  in  their  affairs.  One  must  come  into  intimate 
contact  with  reality.  There  is  no  short  and  brief  fifteen-minute 
book-and-city-map  way  of  doing  it,  as  everybody  knows. 

In  learning  the  geographic  world  which  lies  beyond  the 
horizon,  the  same  thing  holds.  Teachers  do  not  deal  in  magic. 
They  cannot  by  means  of  a  few  passes  with  a  textbook  bring 
children  to  a  real  understanding  of  that  farther  world.  The  only 
way  really  to  learn  the  outer  geographic  world  is  still  the  plain 
matter-of-fact  one  of  experiential  contact  with  it. 

Few  indeed  can  get  this  through  actual  travel.  But 
with  reading  of  a  proper  type  it  is  possible  through  imagination 
to  enter  intimately  into  the  life  of  the  people  of  distant  lands. 
One  can  do  what  they  do,  see  what  they  see,  be  interested  in  what 
they  are  interested  in,  come  into  close  contact  in  a  human  sympa- 
thetic way  with  the  things  of  their  situations. 

Take  as  an  example  the  teaching  of  the  Mississippi  river 
flood  plains.  In  the  brief  geography  textbooks  one  can  be 
shown  on  a  map  a  strip  of  lands  that  is  subject  to  floods.  The 
books  mention  the  fact  that  there  are  destructive  floods  which 
certain  years  destroy  much  property  and  many  lives ;  and  tell  in 
a  passing  sentence  of  the  dikes  that  have  been  constructed  along 
the  river  for  protection.  The  information  given  is  all  true.  The 
words  and  statements  may  be  learned  by  the  pupils  and  recited 
upon ;  but  words  so  learned  in  the  brief  textbooks  are  relatively 
empty  of  meaning.  They  do  not  arouse  interest  or  human  feel- 
ing. They  can  make  but  a  faint  impression  and  have  therefore 
little  effect  in  shaping  the  mental  life  of  the  pupils.  The  things 
evaporate  and  are  forgotten.  They  may  re-learn  it  later  in  more 


138 CHAPTER  VIII. 

effective  ways  from  reading  newspapers  and  magazine's  in  times 
of  flood;  and  then  not  forget  it.  But  if  the  scholastic  learning 
is  only  textbook  learning,  there  remains  almost  no  residue  in 
memory.  The  human  mind  is  so  made. 

Rightly  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  flood  situation  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  pupils  need  to  see  everything  in  the  same 
human  way  in  which  it  is  seen  by  those  who  live  in  that  region. 
They  need  to  enter  through  reading  and  pictures  into  the  agri- 
cultural life  of  the  people  of  the  flood  plains.  They  need  to  read 
a  concrete  human  story  of  an  actual  rise  of  the  river ;  to  feel  tHe 
uneasiness  of  the  people  as  they  see  the  rising  of  the  waters  and 
read  of  the  rain  and  melting  snows  in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio ; 
tij  feel  their  anxiety  as  the  waters  creep  slowly  but  resistlessly  up 
the  dikes ;  to  feel  the  alarm  that  runs  through  the  whole  region 
as  the  waters  approach  the  danger  point  and  threaten  to  break 
through ;  to  enter  sympathetically  into  their  frantic  struggles 
to  get  their  families,  their  live-stock,  their  belongings,  to  places 
of  safety ;  then  to  enter  into  their  grief  as  they  see  their  farms 
submerged,  their  homes  swept  away,  the  long  year's  labor  of  their 
hands  destroyed;  to  watch  the  subsidence  of  the  waters,  to  note 
the  lands  enriched  by  alluvial  silt,  to  enter  into  the  reconstructive 
labors  of  the  farmers,  etc.,  etc. 

Rightly  told,  the  story  pulsates  with  human  interest;  feel- 
ings are  aroused ;  pupils  actually  enter  into  the  life  of  the  people. 
So  vivid  is  the  human  imagination,  when  the  facts  are  properly 
presented,  one  can  actually  see  the  things  almost  as  well  as  if 
one  were  present.  In  such  a  story  the  pupils  learn  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  Mississippi  river  in  this  region ;  learn  of  the  dikes, 
how  constructed  and  where  constructed,  of  the  melting  snows 
in  northern  states,  of  the  rate  of  rise  of  the  river,  of  the  degree 
of  the  destructiveness  of  the  river,  of  the  real  nature  of  silt 
and  the  flood  plain  land  formations,  etc.,  etc., — the  same  matters 
aimed  at  by  the  bald  and  experientially  forceless  statements  of  the 
textbooks.  Learned  through  reading  of  the  type  here  described 
they  are  learned  once  and  for  all  time.  Whatever  comes  through 
one's  vivid  experience  is  not  forgotten.  The  method  means  less 
teaching  by  the  teacher,  provided  the  necessary  helps  are  at 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS  139 

hand.  Where  effectively  led  by  interest,  the  pupils  can  be 
brought  to  take  care  of  more  of  the  matter  themselves.  It  means 
an  economy  of  time  and  labor.  And  further,  what  is  done  is 
not  done  in  vain. 

Naturally  the  schools  must  have  the  necessary  books,  news- 
papers, and  magazine  articles  for  the  pupils  to  read ;  and  they 
must  have  an  abundance  of  pictures.  Although  the  reading  is 
the  thing  of  fundamental  value,  yet  the  pictures  supply  neces- 
sary details.  It  will  be  found  the  highest 'economy  to  buy  these 
necessary  helps,  even  if  something  else  has  to  be  cut  out.  A  few 
dozen  geographical  topics  carefully  chosen  on  the  basis  of  the 
needs  of  the  people  of  San  Antonio,  and  handled  in  the  way  men- 
tioned will  give  more  actual  geographic  results  than  several  ele- 
mentary years  of  dawdling  over  the  geographic  textbook.  The 
school  city  cannot  afford  to  neglect  the  purchase  of  an  abundant 
supply  of  the  necessary  reading  and  pictorial  materials.  To  build 
an  expensive  school  plant  such  as  that  found  in  San  Antonio, 
to  employ  several  hundred  high-priced  people  to  work  within  the 
school  plant,  and  then  not  to  furnish  it  with' the  necessary  mater- 
ials for  effective  work,  is  like  building  an  expensive  factory,  hir- 
ing a  high-priced  body  of  workmen,  and  then  nullifying  their 
labors  by  failing  to  furnish  them  with  the  necessary  tools  and 
machinery.  A  large  part  of  the  annual  investment  of  $30,000  in 
geography  at  the  present  time  is  wasted  because  the  brief,  ab- 
stract textbook  stuff  cannot  be  learned  economically  or  effect- 
ively. It  is  a  safe  guess  that  half  of  the  investment  is  waste. 
The  textbooks  present  about  600  pages  of  condensed  reading 
matter,  after  subtracting  the  maps  and  the  pictures.  This  amount 
of  reading  can  be  covered  in  thirty  hours.  The  whole  can  be 
read  in  six  weeks  by  any  bright  pupil  reading  only  one  hour  a 
day.  It  is,  however,  spread  over  four  years  and  a  half.  It  has 
to  be  read  and  re-read,  and  then  read  again,  in  order  to  make 
sufficient  impression  for  recitation  purposes.  The  thing  needed 
is  not  dawdling  over  empty  abstractions,  unlearnable  as  they 
are  presented.  Pupils  need  to  have  fullness  of  reading,  fullness 
of  imaginative  experience  in  connection  with  every  topic  taken 


140 CHAPTER  VIII. 

«^ 

up.  Pupils  need  to  do  twenty  times  the  reading  that  the  text- 
books present;  but  of  a  wholly  different  sort. 

The  textbook  has  an  important  part  to  play.  The  human 
reading  described  must  be  the  basis  of  any  real  fundamental 
teaching.  But  places  mentioned  in  the  reading  need  to  be  seen 
in  their  place  relationships ;  the  maps  are  indispensable  helps 
for  keeping  these  place-ideas  in  order.  Also  the  reading  matter 
of  the  texts,  if  well  organized,  helps  one  to  a  quick  summary 
over-view  of  the  entire  field,  and  serves  like  the  map  to  give 
outline  and  perspective  in  one's  real  geographical  learning. 

The  geography  teaching  in  the  schools  should  be  in  part 
preliminary  and  in  part  functional.  The  text  is  about  the  only 
thing  we  have  now  for  the  preliminary  over-view.  It  should 
be  covered  rapidly  so  as  to  get  the  necessary  over-view.  There 
should  be  little  stopping  to  fix  things  that  are  not  learned  easily 
i  •  passing.  A  large  amount  of  learning  should  be  gathered  in 
ar  one  goes  along,  but  for  the  most  part  only  that  which  sticks 
easily.  There  should  be  no  stopping  for  intensive  drill.  To  do 
this  is  to  lose  sight  of  the  field  as  a  whole.  The  preliminary 
over-view  should  look  to  wide  vision  of  earth  relations,  and  not 
to  the  details.  The  study  of  the  latter  belongs  to  the  functional 
portion  of  the  work. 

The  functional  studies  should  be  by  topics, — industrial,  com- 
mercial, civic,  etc.  The  reading  work  on  each  topic  should  be  full, 
intensive,  thorough.  It  should,  however,  be  of  the  human  type 
v/hich  we  have  described,  with  the  textbook  used  only  for  refer- 
ence. In  this  functional  field  should  be  placed  most  of  the  teach- 
ing. It  is  not  so  now  in  the  elementary  school.  The  preliminary 
work  is  much  over-done,  wastefully  over-done.  Little  is  actually 
organized  on  a  functional  basis.  The  teachers  in  general  have 
not  the  practical  point  of  view.  After  the  tools  of  learning, 
this  is  probably  the  most  important  subject  in  the  entire  curri- 
culum, yet  the  practical  opportunities  are  neglected. 

In  the  high  school  the  commercial  geography  is  organized 
from  the  functional  point  of  view.  The  amount  of  reading  at 
the  disposal  of  the  high  school  student  is  very  insufficient,  but 
the  instructor  has  the  point  of  view^  and  needs  only  the  necessary 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS    *  • 141 

material  equipment.  It  would  be  well  if  the  teacher  of  com- 
mercial geography  in  the  high  school  were  made  the  supervisor 
of  the  geography  work  in  the  grammar  grades,  after  the  plan  now 
employed  by  the  city  in  securing  supervisors  for  the  grades  in 
German  and  Spanish.  In  the  high  school  also  human  geography 
of  the  industrial-commercial-civic  type  should  by  all  means  be 
substituted  for  the  elementary  geology  now  taught,  called 
physiography.  The  intensive  work  given  in  this  subject  is  wholly 
unwarranted  for  city  children.  In  this  field  of  physiography  they 
should  read  the  book  rapidly  to  get  the  preliminary  over-view 
of  it  all ;  they  ought  to  have  even  more  reading  than  the  text 
now  presents, — two  or  three  times  as  much.  But  it  should  be  read 
i  i  a  quarter  of  the  time  now  devoted  to  the  intensive  study  of  the 
subject.  The  main  thing  then  should  be  the  study  of  industrial, 
commercial,  political,  and  other  topics  of  value,  with  the  geogra- 
phic situation  as  a  background.  Any  needed  details  of  this  back- 
ground can  then  be  studied  as  they  are  needed.  It  is  the  only 
normal  way  to  study  them. 

HISTORY. 

The  history  taught  should  likewise  have  a  practical  pur- 
pose. No  history  should  be  taught  except  that  which  can  be 
seen  to  have  a  purpose.  The  purpose  should  be  to  give  one  an 
understanding  of  the  things  with  which  men  have  to  do  in  this 
present  age ;  commerce,  railroads,  manufacturing,  city-building, 
sanitation,  literature,  agriculture,  trade  unions,  religion,  taxation, 
tuberculosis,  insurance,  public  utilities,  quarantine,  political  states, 
music,  art,  political  parties,  etc.,  etc.  In  these  and  a  thousand 
other  things,  history  shows  how  present  conditions  have  come 
to  be.  It  shows  better  than  anything  else  the  influences  that 
have  been  at  work,  and  which  are  yet  at  work.  All  the  history 
studied  should  be  chosen  to  give  background  to  such  present- 
day  problems. 

Naturally  the  first  history  given  should  be  of  the  preliminary 
type.  Its  purpose  is  to  give  an  over-view  of  the  world's  history ; 
an  over-view  of  the  history  of  the  United  States,  of  the  history 


142 CHAPTER  VIII. 

of  Texas,  or  whatever  country  is  studied.  These  various  fields 
of  history  should  be  covered  through  rapid  reading.  There 
should  be  much  of  this  reading.  It  should  throb  with  human 
interest.  It  should  be  at  every  stage  of  the  work  on  a  level  with 
the  understanding  and  degree  of  maturity  of  the  pupils,  so  that 
they  can  read  it  rapidly.  These  conditions  being  met  they  can 
ccver  a  large  amount  of  ground,  obtain  a  great  wealth  of  his- 
torical experience,  take  in  a  great  quantity  of  information  the 
main  outlines  of  which  are  remembered  without  difficulty, — and 
all  without  the  nerve-racking  strain  upon  the  teachers  incident 
to  the  present  slow,  intensive  method  of  covering  the  preliminary 
portion  of  the  study  by  means  of  skeleton-outline  textbooks. 
This  preliminary  reading  should  be  biographical,  anecdotal,  and 
thrilling  with  adventure  and  conflict  and  human  action.  Along 
with  this  there  will  be  interwoven  the  solid  outlines  and  back- 
ground of  history ;  but  these  things  will  not  be  analyzed  out  nor 
studied  intensively  during  this  preliminary  work.  The  latter  will 
be  rapid  and  superficial.  One  must  not  condemn  superficial 
work  when  in  its  rightful  place, — nor  value  intensive  thorough 
work  when  in  a  wrong  place.  There  is  a  proper  time  for  light 
surface  ploughing,  and  a  time  for  sub-soiling. 

While  the  history  textbooks  now  in  use  are  not  altogether 
suitable  for  these  preliminary  overviews,  yet  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  certain  biographical  readings  and  certain  popularized 
supplementary  historical  books,  etc.,  they  can  be  made  to  serve 
fairly  well  for  the  preliminary  treatment  until  books  primarily 
designed  for  this  work  can  be  at  hand.  The  first  half  of  the 
history  of  Texas  which  is  now  being  used  indicates  better  than 
any  of  the  other  texts  the  kind  of  reading  that  is  needed  for  the 
preliminary  survey  in  every  historical  field.  The  one  criticism 
to  be  made  of  this  Texas  history  is  the  brevity  of  treatment.  In 
proportion  as  it  is  condensed  it  becomes  abstract  and  impersonal 
and  loses  in  human  interest.  The  result  is  that  it  cannot  be  taken 
IP  with  sufficient  ease  of  understanding  as  to  permit  rapid  and 
copious  reading.  The  work  tends  to  be  slowed  down.  There  is 
dearth  of  the  experiential  element.  The  pupils  are  expected  to 
learn  the  text,  to  memorize  all  of  the  details,  to  give  them  forth 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 143 

completely  in  their  recitations,  and  upon  their  examinations.  In 
the  preliminary  stage  of  learning,  such  intensive  analytic  study 
paragraph  by  paragraph  is  altogether  undesirable. 

In  order  to  use  the  textbooks  for  the  preliminary  portion, 
they  can  be  read  much  more  rapidly  than  at  present,  and  then 
supplemented  all  along  the  line  with  three  times  as  much  addi- 
tional reading  from  historical  readers.  Then  taking  the  entire 
history  course,  elementary  and  high  school,  the  whole  of  this 
preliminary  study  should  be  done  in  but  a  fraction  of  the  time 
now  given  to  it.  Children  can  do  it  when  reading  is  provided 
that  is  adapted  to  their  natures  and  interest. 

The  time _sa^£d.is_to  be  g[iven  to  functional  historical  work, — 
the  study  of  the  historical  background  of  the  thousand  and  one 
present-day  conditions.  This  should  perhaps  begin  in  the  gram- 
mar grades  in  some  degree,  and  expand  rapidly  through  the 
high  school.  History  of  what  we  have  called  the  preliminary 
type  might  well  occupy  all  the  history  time  in  the  intermediate 
grades,  most  of  it  through  the  grammar  grades,  and  but  a  minor 
fraction  of  it  in  the  high  school. 

A  good  example  of  the  functional  problem  is  the  history 
of  the  Texas  school  system.  This  is  a  topic  of  large  present 
social  significance  to  Texas  people.  It  is  very  complicated  as 
it  now  stands.  These  complications  cannot  be  properly  under- 
stood except  as  one  studies  the  influences  that  have  been  at  work 
in  the  state,  which  have  brought  the  present  situation  into  being. 
For  example,  to  understand  the  present  enormous  school  fund 
of  Texas  and  fully  to  appreciate  it,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back 
to  the  provisions  for  education  made  by  the  early  Texas  Republic  ; 
to  note  the  way  it  was  taken  care  of  in  the  first  Texas  state  con- 
stitution and  to  note  how  it  has  grown  step  by  step  from  these 
early  beginnings  to  its  present  gigantic  proportions.  In  the 
same  way,  to  understand  the  present  situation,  it  is  necessary  to 
trke  up  the  history  of  school  taxation  in  the  state,  the  history 
ol  the  growth  of  school  buildings,  of  school  attendance,  of  normal 
school  education,  of  university  education,  of  agricultural  and 
mechanical  education,  etc.,  etc.  The  problem  is  a  worthy  one 
for  the  high  school.  It  would  be  infinitely  better  than  wasting 


144 CHAPTER  VIII. 

time  over  the  intensive  study  of  the  political  struggles  of  ancient 
Rome,  or  the  details  of  the  savage  campaigns  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Other  possible  topics  have  already  been  enumerated.  The 
school  people  ought  to  take  the  list  of  civic  topics,  health  topics, 
industrial  topics,  etc.,  the  understanding  of  which  appears  desir- 
able for  the  community,  and  provide  library  reading  materials 
for  giving  each  of  them,  so  far  as  practicable,  a  historical  back- 
ground and  setting.  A  practical  community  should  see  that  the 
work  is  rightly  purposeful  and  make  this  one  of  the  conditions 
cf  financial  support. 

To  the  specialist  in  history  the  preliminary  and  the  func- 
tional for  his  own  special  labors  are  one  and  the  same  thing. 
The  historian^  therefore^  almos^without_exception  ovejjivalues 
the  preliminary,  and  over-develops  it,  and  insists  that  it  shall  be 
intensively  and  thoroughly  studied  and  digested  without  in- 
quiring whether  there  is  any  practical  relation  to  current-day 
problems.  He  grows  eloquent  over  the  demoralization  of  history 
that  will  grow  out  of  such  a  plan  as  recommended  here.  If  such 
a  plan  is  introduced,  unless  supervised  by  superintendent  and 
principal,  he  is  apt  usually  to  continue  to  overdo  the  preliminary 
and  to  neglect  the  functional.  The  most  progressive  leaders  in 
the  historical  field,  however,  are  changing  their  minds  on  this 
particular  point.  The  recent  National  Education  Association 
Committee  on  the  Reorganization  of  the  History  Teaching  in 
the  High  School,  recommends  that  first  year  of  work  be  a  pre- 
liminary over-view  of  all  of  the  world's  history  down  to  about 
1700.  They  then  recommend  a  more  intensive  study,  more  nearly 
of  the  functional  type  covering  the  last  two  centuries  by  way  of 
showing  the  historical  background  and  genesis  of  present-day 
conditions.  These  leading  historians  have  come  practically  to  the 
plan  of  work  which  we  have  above  described ;  not  wholly,  how- 
ever, because  of  the  administrative  division  between  elementary 
and  high  schools.  They  probably  are  not  placing  the  preliminary 
quite  properly,  probably  somewhat  over-developing  it,  and  some- 
what under-developing  the  functional.  It  is,  however,  a  long 
step  in  the  direction  that  San  Antonio  ought  to  take  in  its  history 
teaching. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 145 

The  San  Antonio  high  school  is  wastefully  overdoing  the 
preliminary  hisj:oncjj_jtudies~of  ancient  medievaTjindjnodenx 
European  history.  This  history  is  required  of  all  students  and 
takes  two  years  of  their  time.  This  amount  of  history  should  be 
required  of  all  high  school  students ;  and  in  their  preliminary 
over-view  of  the  world's  history  they  should  perhaps  read  very 
much  more  than  the  twelve  hundred  pages  of  their  present  text- 
books. They  should  do  it,  however,  in  one  semester,  and  not  in 
four.  Twelve  hundred  pages  of  historical  materials,  written. in 
a  manner  suitable  for  students  of  the  high  school  age,  can  be 
read  in  sixty  hours, — that  is  to  say,  it  can  be  read  in  three  school 
months,  if  read  at  the  rate  of  one  hour  per  school  day.  It  is 
wrongly  using  such  preliminary  material  to  spread  it  out  over 
two  full  years.  This  is  prescribing  about  ten  minutes  of  reading 
for  each  school  day  of  the  two  years.  To  have  it  read  and  re- 
read, swallowed  and  regurgitated,  is  to  miss  the  right  use  and 
right  method  to  be  employed  with  the  preliminary  aspects  of  the 
study.  Until  the  elementary  school  can  take  care  more  ade- 
quately of  the  earlier  portions  of  general  world-history,  leaving 
the  functional  studies  for  the  high  school,  we  recommend  that 
the  general  over-view  of  the  world's  history  now  accomplished  \ 
in  two  years,  in  the  high  school  be  reduced  to  one  year,  covering  J 
the  same  ground.  When  this  same  material  is  spread  more  thinly 
so  as  to  cover  three  semesters,  the  law  of  diminishing  returns 
sets  in  heavily,  so  that  not  much  more  actual  results  can  be 
accomplished  in  the  three  terms  than  in  the  two  semesters  recom- 
mended. A  fourth  semester  to  this  same  body  of  material  is 
mostly  wasted  unless  the  whole  is  heavily  supplemented  with 
further  historical  readings.  This  is  not  now  done  because  of 
the  almost  total  lack  of  library  books  of  a  historical  nature,  and 
the  lack  of  library  space  for  so  many  historical  students.  The 
city  is  now  investing  in  the  preliminary  teaching  of  history  a 
fairly  large  sum.  It  is  a  safe  gi i e s s  i\\y^\\nder^e_^\r^ \  1  rns  ta  nceg 
half  of  this  is  waste.  This  is  not  mcriticism  of  the 
ability~~of  nTe~^feachers.  They  impress  one  as  distinctly 
capable.  Simply,  they  are  using  a  wrong  plan  and  lack 
necessary  material  helps.  Blame  for  such  a  situation 


146     .  CHAPTER  VIII. 

must  be  pretty  widely  distributed.  Perhaps  there  should 
not  be  any  blame.  One  should  look  at  the  present  situa- 
tion as  one  stage  of  growth  in  which  most  of  the  high  schools 
of  the  entire  country  are  found ;  a  stage  of  growth  through  which 
the  high  schools  must  necessarily  pass  before  reaching  the  next 
one.  The  next  one  is  now  clearly  in  sight,  and  is  being  pointed 
out  by  many  of  the  leaders  of  our  profession.  Primary  responsi- 
bility for  taking  the  next  step  rests  upon  those  in  supervisory 
authority,  whom  the  city  has  made  responsible  for  the  general 
plans  of  the  work.  Only  secondarily  does  it  rest  upon  the 
special  teachers  of  the  subject.  We  are  not  here  recommendingV 
that  the  historical  course  in  the  high  school  be  reduced  to  one/' 
year.  It  should  be  as  long  as  at  present.  In  fact  even  though! 
impossible  under  present  administrative  conditions  there  ought\ 
to  be  in  time  history  work  for  every  high  school  student  in  each  of 
the  four  years ;  but  after  the  first  year  of  general  historical 
survey,  we  would  recommend  for  the  other  semesters  historical 
studies  of  the  functional  type  such^_aj_^j^££unmended  by  our 
National  Education  Association  Committee,  such  as  exemplified 
in  certain  of  our  industrial  histories,  histories  of  commerce,  etc. 

An  objection  that  will  be  urged  is  that  this  mode  of  teach- 
ing will  involve  one  in  difficulty  who  is  going  to  college.  It 
may.  It  certainly  will  in  some  cases.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
mediaevalism  yet  in  the  college  field,  but  I  can  see  no  reason 
why  the  business  men  of  San  Antonio  should  pay  their  much- 
needed  money  for  the  continued  support  of  college  mediaevalism. 
Even  if  they  wish  to  do  so,  they  should  remember  that  the  large 
majority  of  the  high  school  students  of  San  Antonio  do  not  go 
to  college.  The  high  schools  might  at  least  prepare  functional 
and  purposeful  history  courses  for  this  majority. 

To  modernize  the  history  in  San  Antonio  and  to  save  half 
the  waste  that  is  now  going  on,  the  first  necessary  thing  is  that 
the  supervisory  officials  get  the  functional  point  of  view ;  a 
second  thing  is  that  the  teachers  acquire  the  functional  point  of 
view;  and  the  third  is  that  the  necessary  books,  maps,  pictures, 
be.  supplied  in  sufficient  abundance  to  take  care  of  the  needs  of 
all  of  the  students.  For  its  new  buildings  the  city  at  the  present 


I 

THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 147 

time  is  buying  the  most  modern  type  of  furniture  and  appliances. 
For  the  instructional  work  the  city  should  likewise  purchase  the  I 
most  modern  type  of  educational  tools  and  appliances.     Let  the 
city  economize  on  buildings,  on  furniture  and  material  equip-  \ 
ment ;  on  abbreviation  of  the  course  of  study  so  that  children  can 
finish  somewhat  earlier  and  thus  the  city  need  fewer  class-rooms  * 
and  fewer  teachers  for  a  given  number  of  pupils ;  but  let  them 
not  economize  on  the  indispensable  materials  of  instruction.    For 
the  history  the  major  things  are  properly  written  books,  maga- 
zines,  newspaper   articles,   government    bulletins,   etc.      Second 
after  these  for  purposes  of  making  clear  the  details  of  the  read- 
ing, are  an  abundance  of  maps,  charts,  pictures,  models,  etc. 


MATHEMATICS. 

Arithmetic. — The  textbooks  in  arithmetic  in  the  elementary 
school  are  of  standard  quality.  In  the  fundamental  operations, 
much  additional  work  is  given  by  way  of  rapid  intensive  drills 
for  speed  and  accuracy.  Considered  simply  as  textbook  and  drill 
teaching,  the  city  is  certainly  doing  as  well  as  cities  in  general. 
One  observes  in  the  buildings  about  that  same  proportion  of 
superior  work  and  of  inferior  work  that  one  expects  to  find 
where  average  work  is  being  done. 

The  results  of  the  training  in  the  fundamental  operations 
of  arithmetic,  both  whole  numbers  and  fractions,  were  measured 
by  means  of  tests  made  up  of  standard  units.  The  average 
ability  of  the  San  Antonio  children  in  performing  the  various  op- 
erations is  shown  in  the  following  tables.  They  are  so  arranged 
that  comparisons  can  be  made  with  the  identical  tests  made  in 
certain  large  buildings  in  Chicago.  Each  San  Antonio  grade 
it  compared  with  the  Chicago  grade  next  higher  in  number,— 
seventh  with  eighth,  sixth  with  seventh,  etc., — without  any  re- 
ductions as  in  the  case  of  the  spelling  and  handwriting.  The 
numbers  represent  the  average  number  of  standard  problems 
solved  correctly  in  the  allotted  time. 


148 .  CHAPTER  VIII. 

Column  Addition. 

IV              V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 7.8             7.8  9.2  9.5 

Chicago   7.3            7.9  9.7  10.3 

Subtraction,  long  problems. 

IV              V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 4.8.           5.4  6.6  7.2 

Chicago   : 3.5            4.8  5.4  7.0 

Multiplication. 

IV              V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 3.9            4.7  5.9  6.2 

Chicago    , 4.3            5.4  6.1  6.0 

Short  Division. 

IV              V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 1.5            2.6  4.0  4.7 

Chicago   2.8            3.5  4.4  4.8 

Long  Division. 

IV              V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 1.0             1.3  1.9  2.5 

Chicago   1.2            1.5  1.8  2.3 

Addition  of  Fractions. 

V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio  7.4  9.0  8.6 

Chicago  7.1  8.5  10.7 

Subtraction  of  Fractions. 

V  VI  VII 

San  Antonio 9.2  10.9  10.5 

Chicago  8.3  10.6  12.3 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS    149 

Multiplication  of  Fractions. 

V  VI          VII 

San  Antonio  4.9  7.9  10.6 

Chicago  : 3.2  7.0  9.0 

Division  of  Fractions. 

V  VI          VII 

San  Antonio  4.6  7.6  10.2 

Chicago 3.9  6.1  6.5 

The  results  of  the  tests  were  equated  with  those  of  Mr. 
Courtis  in  the  four  fundamental  operations  with  integers  for 
Boston,  New  York,  Detroit,  Butte,  and  other  cities.  It  appears 
that  San  Antonio  is  getting  about  average  results  as  compared 
with  other  cities  in  the  country.  This  is  being  done  in  a  seven- 
year  course,  too,  instead  of  an  eight-year  course ;  although  the 
children  are  of  the  same  degree  of  maturity,  a  year  being  saved 
by  entering  one  year  late;  at  seven  instead  of  six. 

This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  work  is  all  that  it 
might  be.  It  is  far  from  that  in  the  cities  in  general  of  the 
United  States.  Throughout  the  country  the  supplemental  arith- 
metic work  of  the  schools  does  not  grow  sufficiently  out  of  the 
fundamental  number-thinking  of  the  community;  the  prelim- 
inary work  tends  everywhere  to  be  over-developed  by  including 
too  many  kinds  of  topics ;  by  using  numbers  that  are  too  large 
and  complicate*!  for  children's  thinking;  by  introducing  prob- 
iems  of  a  subtlety  and  degree  of  complexity  that  have  no  place 
in  the  rapid  preliminary  training ;  and  finally,  the  functional 
arithmetical  training  which  should  be  the  largest  and  most 
serious  part  of  the  study  is  almost  wholly  non-existent;  in  its 
place  there  exists  the  false  substitute  of  imaginary  so-called 
reasoning  problems  with  which  the  arithmetic  books  are  so  full. 
A  good  quantity  of  these  imaginary  problems  actually  belong  in 
the  rapid  preliminary  work, — easy  problems  using  small  num- 
bers for  the  sake  of  learning  the  operations.  Such  problems, 
however,  cannot  possibly  be  made  to  serve  for  functional  supple- 


150     •' CHAPTER  VIII. 

mental  training.    This  latter  must  grow  out  of  the  fundamental 
number  thinking-  of  the  community. 

The  city  is  doing  a  large  part  of  the  preliminary  work  in 
very  effective  fashion ;  much  rapid  oral  work  with  tables ;  rapid 
practice  with  easy  problems  in  all  the  fundamental  operations; 
rapid  oral  reasoning  problems  using  numbers  of  manageable 
size ;  using  the  reasoning  problems  of  the  textbooks  for  expla- 
nation of  the  processes  without  performing  the  operations  with 
the  large  numbers  involved;  much  oral  arithmetical  drill,  etc. 
All  this  naturally  should  continue.  The  classes,  however,  should 
be  supplied  with  certain  printed  helps  for  the  work,  which  they 
do  not  now  have.  For  drill  in  speed  and  accuracy  in  multiplica- 
tion, let  us  say,  there  should  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  class 
printed  sheets  containing  the  problems  ready  for  the  solution. 
Each  pupil  is  given  one  of  the  sheets  containing  on  it  a  large 
number  of  problems  with  space  for  the  multiplication.  He  gets 
a  large  amount  of  drill  by  working  all  the  problems  on  the  page 
before  him.  The  advantage  of  having  the  problems  ready 
printed  with  spaces  for  the  solution  are :  (1)  The  teacher  does 
not  have  to  copy  the  problems  on  the  black-board  and  thus  her 
time  is  saved  for  needful  work.  (2)  The  time  of  the  pupils 
is  saved,  since  they  do  not  have  to  copy  the  long  list  of  problems. 
This  copying  is  not  of  educational  value.  (3)  With  such  an 
abundance  of  helps,  less  oral  work  is  needed.  This  further  saves 
the  expensive  time  of  the  teacher.  (4)  All  of  the  pupils  can 
bt:  actually  working  at  one  time,  and  not  merely  passively  list- 
ening to  what  others  are  doing  when  the  work  is  of  the  oral  type. 
The  paper  used  for  such  work  need  cost  no  more  than  paper  used 
for  arithmetic  work  at  present.  The  added  expense  of  the  print- 
ing is  small  when  done  in  large  quantities.  The  twenty-five 
percent  increased  efficiency  in  the  drill  in  fundamental  opera- 
tions will  pay  the  added  expense  many  times  over.  The  same 
results  now  had  can  be  had  in  considerably  less  time.  In  certain 
cities  these  drill  helps  are  in  part  supplied  by  the  school  printing 
presses  used  in  the  manual-training  printing  work.  In  other 
cities  the  helps  are  obtained  from  certain  publishing  houses. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 151 

After  the  preliminary  work  has  laid  a  solid  foundation 
in  speed  and  accuracy  in  the  performance  of  the  basic  operations 
of  arithmetic,  the  practical  or  functional  arithmetic  should  be 
developed.  This  should  grow  out  of  things  with  which  the  chil- 
dren have  to  do.  Many  of  the  school  yards,  for  example,  require 
filling  and  leveling.  Let  the  pupils  calculate  the  cost  of  the 
work.  Let  them  calculate  the  number  of  cubic  yards  of  gravel 
needed,  the  capacity  of  the  wagons  used  for  the  hauling,  the 
number  of  loads  to  be  hauled,  the  cost  of  the  hauling,  etc.  Let 
the  girls  in  the  domestic  science  classes  do  the  marketing,  the 
cooking,  the  serving,  and  calculate  accurately  the  cost  of  pro- 
viding the  meals  they  serve  to  each  other,  to  the  teachers,  to  the 
school  board,  etc.  Let  the  boys  in  constructing  a  school  fence 
perform  all  the  various  calculations  connected  with  the  work. 
Let  the  pupils  make  arithmetical  studies  in  connection  with  such 
matters  as  the  following:  the  family  grocer  account,  the  family 
fuel  supply,  rent,  taxes,  insurance,  illuminating  gas,  electric 
light,  water  supply,  street  paving,  street  cleaning,  city  lighting, 
etc.,  etc.  The  possible  list  is  a  long  one. 

Much  of  the  functional  arithmetic  will  develop  better  in  the 
civic  and  vocational  classes  than  in  the  arithmetic  class.  But 
it  cannot  be  developed  except  as  these  subjects  are  rightly  de- 
veloped at  the  same  time.  Arithmetic  should  not  be  mainly  a 
matter  of  solving  hard  problems.  After  a  certain  point  in  the 
course  is  reached,  it  should  be  mainly  a  matter  of  accurate 
numerical  thinking.  The  problem-solving  normally  is  incidental, 
by  way  of  making  reductions,  summations,  etc.,  needed  in  one's 
thought  and  in  one's  work.  A  banker  or  a  contractor,  a  mer- 
chant or  real  estate  man,  must  do  very  much  of  his  thinking  in 
exact  mathematical  terms.  Certainly  he  must  be  able  to  make 
any  necessary  computations  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  and 
speed.  But  these  are  not  for  him  the  principal  things.  While 
they  are  important  they  are  still  incidental  to  the  main  current 
of  his  thought  and  his  work.  The  computations  are  meaningless 
except  as  they  are  part  of  this  real  thought  and  work. 

High  School  Mathematics. — The  mathematics  needed  by  the 
majority  of  high  school  students  consists  of  numerous  applica- 


152      '  CHAPTER  VIII. 

tions  of  arithmetic  to  the  multitudinous  problems  of  practical 
affairs.  For  the  girls  there  can  be  no  justification  for  any  other 
kind  of  mathematics.  For  the  boys  going  into  agriculture, 
commercial,  clerical,  transportation  vocations  and  most  of  the 
trades  and  professions,  the  same  thing  can  be  said.  The  city  is 
now  investing  a  large  sum  in  high  school  algebra  and  geometry. 
Eighty  percent  of  the  boys  and  one  hundred  percent  of  the  girls 
upon  whom  this  money  is  spent  would  be  ten  years  hence  just  as 
well  off  if  the  money  were  saved.  They  would  be  much  better  off 
if  it  were  expended  upon  the  study  of  the  practical  civic,  social, 
industrial,  recreational,  and  other  matters  which  are  greatly 
needed  by  this  rising  generation  of  young  people  in  San  Antonio. 
This  recommendation  will  appear  so  absurd  to  many  that  I  make 
this  further  recommendation :  Get  the  opinion  on  this  topic  of 
intelligent  leaders  of  thought  in  this  country,  educational  leaders 
as  well  as  leaders  among  public-spirited,  social-minded  laymen. 
The  amount  of  money  annually  invested  and  the  amount  of 
teacher  and  student  labor  annually  consumed  in  what  is  here  pro- 
nounced unjustifiable  studies  for  most  students  is  large  enough 
to  justify  such  an  investigation.  Also,  consult  any  group  of  lay- 
men of  San  Antonio  who  are  graduates  of  the  high  school  as 
to  the  degree  in  which  they  have  ever  used  their  algebra  or  the 
demonstrational  aspects  of  their  geometry. 

Of  course  many  will  refer  to  the  disciplinary  value  of 
algebra  for  strengthening  the  mind.  Naturally  it  has  a  little 
value  of  that  sort,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  learn- 
ing of  useless  things  is  any  better  for  strengthening  the  mind 
than  the  learning  of  useful  things.  Quite  the  reverse. 

There  are  some  who  should  study  algebra  and  geometry  for 
vocational  purposes.  For  these,  much  the  same  thing  can  be 
said  for  the  higher  mathematics  that  was  said  for  arithmetic. 
There  should  be  in  both  subjects  certain  preliminary  work  giv- 
ing an  over-view  of  things  that  lie  within  these  mathematical 
fields,  for  the  sake  of  perspective.  This  preliminary  study  will 
necessarily  be  without  reference  to  practical  application.  It 
should  be  rapid.  It  should  not  be  deep  or  intensive.  It  will  be 
preparatory  for  practical  application.  After  this  basic  founda- 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 153 

tion  is  laid,  then,  the  algebraic  and  geometrical  work  should  cer- 
tainly be  of  the  practical  applied  type.  The  preliminary  will 
not  close  at  any  certain  point  in  the  course  and  the  practical 
teaching  continue  from  that  point.  The  preliminary  will  be  large 
ir  the  beginning  and  will  gradually  diminish  throughout  one's 
mathematical  course.  The  practical  should  be  introduced  in 
some  measure  as  early  as  possible,  and  gradually  expand 
throughout  the  course.  Recent  books  on  shop  mathematics  give 
a  minimum  of  the  elements  of  algebra  and  geometry  in  the  be- 
ginning; and  after  this  basis  if  the  subject  is  laid,  the  work  is 
functional,  applied,  and  practical. 

Is  no  subject  to  be  taught  merely  for  the  municipal  luxury 
of  spending  money  upon  useless  things?  If  cities  are  to  limit 
this  form  of  indulgence  anywhere,  it  would  seem  that  it  should 
be  in  the  field  of  education.  It  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  the 
money  wasted.  It  is  youth  that  cannot  afford  to  have  its  irre- 
coverable time  so  squandered. 

SCIENCE. 

One's  fundamental  knowledge  of  science  is  obtained  from 
one's  daily  experience  with  things ;  wind,  rain,  sun-light,  grass 
and  trees,  electric  light,  fuel  combustion,  machines,  phonographs, 
food  and  drink,  dust,  bacteria,  organic  decay,  lenses,  water  mains, 
gas  supply,  etc.,  etc.  Everything  with  which  one  comes  into 
contact  is  a  complex  of  materials  and  forces  treated  in  science; 
and  science  treats  of  nothing  else  except  these  things  that  are 
interwoven  in  the  experiences  of  daily  life.  While  one  gets 
acquainted  in  a  rough  way  with  the  materials  and  forces  of 
the  world  of  science  in  this  out-of-school  experience,  the  various 
matters  are  so  complicated  that  they  need  to  be  taken  up  one 
after  another  in  the  school  and  analyzed  into  their  elements, 
and  these  elements  studied  in  relation  to  the  total  situation  be- 
fore one's  knowledge  is  at  all  adequate  or  complete.  It  is  how- 
ever, the  fundamental  things  of  one's  own  daily  experience  that 
should  be  the  science  matters  analyzed  and  in  connection  with 
which  all  of  the  elements  of  the  sciences  are  learned.  The  pro- 


154 CHAPTER  VIII. 

spective  mechanic,  therefore,  will  analyze  situations  relating  to 
tools,  machines,  electricity,  chemistry  of  metals  used  in  mechani- 
cal industry,  etc.  The  prospective  housewife  will  find  as  science 
studies,  the  nature  of  food,  heat,  electricity,  the  physics,  of  house- 
hold appliances,  bacteriological  study  of  molds,  yeast,  mildews, 
the  chemistry  of  cleaning,  the  physics  of  color  harmony,  etc., 
etc.  All  pupils  will  have  experience  and  will  look  forward  to 
experiences  in  connection  with  science  situations  relating  to 
sanitation,  hygiene,  civic  problems,  etc.  The  number  of  analyz- 
•able  situations  of  vital  interest  to  all  boys  and  girls  in  the  com- 
munity is  practically  endless.  The  science  of  both  elementary 
and  high  school  should  be  thoroughly  practical,  and  be  but  an 
analysis  and  completion  only  of  that  vague  unanalyzed  science 
knowledge  which  is  got  in  a  wide  daily  experience. 

There  is,  however,  the  usual  qualification.  In  proportion 
a:-  situations  are  complex  and  difficult,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a 
sufficient  mastery  of  certain  keys  for  unlocking  them.  The 
science-complex  situations  are  made  up  of  materials  and  forces 
that  seem  organically  related  to  each  other  in  certain  systems. 
Physics,  for  example,  covers  a  certain  field  of  forces  and  rela- 
tions. Chemistry  covers  a  very  wide  field  of  different 
forces  and  relations.  Physiography  handles  still  a  different  series 
01  matters.  Biology,  botony,  zoology,  entomology,  bacteriology, 
physiology,  etc.,  relate  to  fields  each  of  which  has  within  itself 
a  certain  unity.  Since  the  analysis  of  the  science  complexes  in- 
volved in  the  various  practical  situations  is  dependent  upon 
some  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  factors  that  enter  into  the 
situation,  it  seems  clearly  desirable  to  have  certain  preliminary 
studies  which  give  a  rapid  over-view  and  perspective  as  to  the 
materials  and  forces  that  pertain  to  each  of  the  many  fields  of 
science.  One  should  have  some  knowledge  of  the  elements  in 
their  isolation  before  he  can  analyze  them  out  of  compounds. 

The  schools  ought  therefore  to  give  short,  rapid  courses 
i-i  each  of  the  various  sciences.  The  work  will  be  qualitative. 
It  will  show  the  main  outlines  of  what  is  found  in  each  of  the 
various  fields.  It  will  meet  with  the  complexities  that  lie  within 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 155 

this  general  outline;  but  it  will  not  dwell  upon  the  complexities 
in  a  degree  beyond  that  suited  to  the  maturity  of  the  pupils. 

The  preliminary  work  in  large  measure  should  come  in 
the  later  grades  of  the  elementary  school.  Where  it  has  not 
been  here  given,  it  should  be  given  fast  and  heavy  in  the  first 
year  of  the  high  school,  or  first  and  second  years. 

In  the  rapid  preliminary  studies  of  the  various  science 
fields  the  major  part  of  the  work  should  be  in  connection  with 
things  of  common  use  in  daily  life.  The  study  of  electricity 
should  be  in  connection  with  door-bells,  batteries,  electric  lights, 
electric  toasters,  telegraph  keys,  etc.  The  studies  of  yeast,  molds, 
mildews,  etc.,  come  naturally  in  connection  with  the  situations 
where  these  things  are  met  with.  By  organizing  the  preliminary 
studies  in  each  of  the  sciences  about  the  things  of  common  life, 
it  is  possible  to  be  developing  the  practical  at  the  same  time  that 
the  preliminary  is  being  covered. 

A  good  deal  of  the  preliminary  work  should  be  reading, 
relating  to  the  things  of  each  of  the  sciences,  laboratory  demon- 
strations, and  laboratory  experience  on  the  part  of  the  pupils, 
which  will  be  altogether  unapplied,  or  as  we  call  it,  pure  science. 
It  is  not  impractical,  however,  since  it  is  the  laying  of  the  foun- 
dations to  be  used  in  the  practical  applied  science.  There  ought 
to  be  very  much  science  reading  in  both  elementary  and  second- 
ary schools.  The  textbooks  are  of  little  value  for  this  purpose. 
One  needs  to  have  the  electricity  treated  in  a  readable  popular 
way ;  yet  having  the  facts  accurate  in  all  respects.  Pupils  need 
to  read  in  the  same  way  a  quite  extended  popular  reader  on  each 
separate  field ;  bacteriology,  insect  life,  the  economic  and  sani- 
tary aspects  of  bird  life,  mechanics,  heat,  sound,  light,  chem- 
istry, plant  life,  etc.,  etc.  Schools  need  to  be  equipped  with  ap- 
paratus, most  of  which  should  be  made  by  the  pupils  for  illus- 
trating the  various  scientific  matters  covered  in  the  readings. 
The  reading  we  may  say  is  the  pre-preliminary  for  demonstration 
laboratory  work.  The  latter  is  the  preliminary  preparing  for  the 
functional  analysis  of  practical  situations.  At  present  the  science  [ 
work  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio  is  defective  since  elementary  . 
science  is  not  given  in  the  grades,  except  for  the  hygiene,  which  < 


156        CHAPTER  VIII. 

i-*.  mostly  textbook  work.  Fortunately  for  this,  the  school  uses 
a  good  textbook.  The  foundation  work  of  each  of  the  other 
sciences  should  also  be  developed  in  the  elementary  schools,  in 
such  degree  as  possible,  both  the  reading  and  the  demonstration 
work.  In  the  high  school,  the  preliminary  work  is  much  over- 
developed. Each  unit  is  so  over-developed  that  it  is  not  pos- 
sible for  students  to  get  the  desirable  preliminary  over-view 
of  each  of  the  various  sciences.  Two,  years  of  scienceare_>rjre- 
scribed  for  all  students ;  but  five  sciences,  each  on  the  prelimin- 
ary level,  and  each  taught  for  a  full  year,  are  offered.  Students 
cannot  well  take  more  than  two  or  three.  The  list  of  five  seems 
not  sufficiently  to  include  bacteriology,  entomology,  the  civic, 
arid  economic  aspects  of  biology,  etc.  Because  of  the  over-de- 
velopment of  each  of  the  units  of  preliminary  training  it  largely 
fails  of  its  purpose.  Moreover,  it  takes  up  such  a  quantity  of 
the  time  as  to  preclude  the  development  of  functional  science 
based  upon  the  practical  situation  in  which  the  students  pass 
their  days.  Neither  the  laboratory  science,  the  reading  material, 
nor  the  observation  work  in  the  science  department  relate  in  any 
considerable  degree  or  in  any  conscious  degree  to  the  practical 
problems  of  the  people  of  the  community. 

The  sciences  taken  by  the  high  school  student  do  give  the 
necessary  preliminary  over-view;  but  certainly  as  much  or 
practically  as  much  could  be  had  in  a  half  year,  were  the  work 
organized  consciously  for  labors  of  the  preliminary  type.  The 
law  of  diminishing  returns  enters  in  so  fully  into  the  second 
semester  of  this  preliminary  science  that  there  are  doubts  of  its 
advisability  as  now  given.  The  time  should  be  saved  for  func- 
tional science  studies. 

The  science  teachers  of  the  high  school  should  be  the  super- 
visors of  the  science  work  in  the  grades.  Naturally  this  will 
be  only  in  the  upper  grades  and  carried  on  by  specially  trained 
departmental  teachers.  This  method  of  organization  will  permit 
an  organic  unfoldment  of  the  science  work  from  the  grammar 
giades  through  the  high  school.  In  the  grades,  the  preliminary 
foundation  will  be  broad  and  the  functional  applications  will  be 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 157 

relatively  narrow.  As  one  grows  up  through  the  high  school, 
these  relative  proportions  will  be  just  reversed. 

The  plan  presented  is  one  that  is  being  worked  out  in  our 
most  progressive  school  systems.  It  is  not  one  that  can  be  sud- 
denly inaugurated  and  introduced  into  a  city.  It  must  be  a 
growth.  One  must,  however,  see  the  plan  in  total  outline  in 
ovder  to  provide  for  the  few  steps  of  growth  next  year,  and  the 
few  additional  steps  the  year  beyond,  etc.,  etc.  If  teachers  will 
go  only  as  far  as  they  can  see  ahead,  when  they  have  reached 
that  point,  then  they  can  see  further  ahead,  and  see  what  next 
to  do.  If  asked  to  work  the  whole  matter  out  within  a  short  time, 
they  would  simply  be  bewildered  and  the  work  demoralized. 

We  do  not  press  the  suggestion  that  these  recommendations 
be  adopted  as  they  stand ;  we  present  them  rather  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  those  in  authority  over  the  teaching  of  the  science 
in  the  schools  consult  the  leaders  of  educational  thought,  both  the 
professional  leaders  and  the  social-minded  lay  leaders  as  to  what 
they  think  of  the  validity  of  such  recommendations. 

DRAWING  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

Eight  and  three-tenths  percent  of  the  elementary  school  time 
ir  devoted  to  drawing.  The  current  annual  investment  is  in 
the  neighborhood  of  $35,000. 

The  subject  has  not  been  long  in  the  course.  This  may  ex- 
plain its  apparently  very  much  undeveloped  condition.  I  say 
apparently ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  was  unable  to  observe  much  of 
it.  The  subject  seemed  very  elusive  and  with  two  exceptions 
was  never  gofng  on  in  a  building  during  my  visit.  Children's 
drawing  seemed  not  to  have  accumulated  during  the  term  in  the 
school-rooms  in  the  fashion  that  is  usual  where  superior  work 
is  being  done. 

The  training  is  important.  Applied  design  plays  a  large 
part  nowadays  in  human  life.  For  many  labors  it  is  as  needful 
at  mathematics  or  science.  For  all  it  is  valuable  for  developing 
an  appreciation  of  the  aesthetic  aspects  of  the  visual  world  in 
which  one  moves  and  acts. 


158      CHAPTER  VIII. 

Although  having  seen  too  little  of  the  work  to  pronounce 
judgment  as  to  its  efficiency,  I  am  definitely  of  the  opinion  that 
the  work  in  the  subject  should  be  carefully  looked  into  by  those 
in  supervisory  authority.  The  size  of  the  annual  investment 
and  the  probable  degree  of  inefficiency  are  large  enough  to  war- 
rant serious  examination.  The  main  thing  probably  is  to  get 
constructive  advice  as  to  what  to  do  in  such  a  course  from  suc- 
cessful drawing  supervisors  in  cities  that  have  had  time  for  a 
full  development  of  the  subject. 

LATIN. 

The  city  is  recovering  normally  from  the  Latin  superstition. 
Twice  as  many  students  take  modern  languages  instead.  Owing 
to  the  subtlety  of  the  educational  questions  involved,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  enter  into  them  very  fully  or  omit  discussion  altogether. 
Under  the  circumstances  the  latter  seems  preferable  for  the  pres- 
ent. Let  us  merely  state  a  few  probable  conclusions  from  such 
arguments : 

1.  The    major    portion    of    needed    knowledge    of    Latin 
etymology  as  this  exists  in  English  words  should  be  mastered 
in  connection  with  English  word-study. 

2.  It  is  admitted  that  professional  men  such  as  physicians, 
lawyers,  pharmacists,  etc.,  can  master  their  Latin  terminology 
directly  without  need  of  a  long  intermediary  Latin  course. 

3.  A  moderate  number  of  students  should  take  some  Latin. 

4.  Most  of  these  should  take  but  one  year;  or  at  most  a 
year  and  a  half.     For  these  students'  needs,  the  content  of  the 
course  needs  to  be  radically  changed.    The  purpose  of  taking  it 
must  dominate  in  the  choice  of  study  materials  and  methods. 

5.  The  high  school  should  devise  a  profitable  short  credit 
course  in  this  subject.    The  present  three-years-or-nothing  course 
is  justified  for  very  few  students  indeed. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 159 

SPANISH. 

Spanish  is  a  living  language  in  San  Antonio.  Because  of 
the  nearness  of  the  city  to  Mexico  the  language  will  always  be 
used  by  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population  for  commercial 
and  social  purposes. 

There  is  a  double  problem.  On  the  one  hand,  there  are 
the  children  of  Spanish  and  Mexican  parentage,  between  the  ages 
of  seven  and  seventeen  to  the  number  of  about  9,000.  For  these, 
Spanish  is  their  mother  tongue,  and  all  that  is  needed  is  per- 
fecting and  developing  their  use  of  it,  and  training  in  the  read- 
ing and  writing  of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  that  portion 
of  the  population  to  whom  Spanish  is  wholly  a  foreign  tongue, 
but  who  can  see  commercial  and  social  advantages  in  possessing 
it.  For  both  types  of  students  the  work  is  now  begun  in  the 
fifth  grade,  and  is  carried  on  in  the  same  manner.  It  probably 
should  begin  at  different  times  for  these  two  types  of  students, 
and  be  carried  on  in  a  somewhat  different  manner.  It  is  alto- 
gether possible  that  the  children  in  the  Mexican  schools  such 
as  the  Navarro  and  the  Brackenridge-Memorial  should  begin 
the  reading,  writing,  and  spelling  of  the  Spanish  in  the  first 
grade  at  the  same  time  that  they  begin  the  reading,  writing,  and 
spelling  of  the  English  language.  As  they  read  a  number  of 
primers  and  first  readers  in  English  they  might  at  the  same  time 
read  a  number  of  primers  and  first  readers  in  the  Spanish.  The 
latter  to  them  is  more  of  a  living  tongue  than  the  former  and  will 
serve  in  fact  as  a  better  basis  for  learning  the  mechanics  of  writ- 
ten language.  As  the  work  proceeds  through  second,  third, 
fourth,  and  later  grades  in  reading,  there  can  be  no  visible  rea- 
son why  their  reading  might  not  sometimes  be  in  Spanish  sup- 
plementary textbooks.  Since  training  in  the  correct  use  of  a 
language  as  described  in  a  previous  chapter  comes  not  so  much 
from  a  study  of  the  grammar  as  from  actual  use  of  the  language 
for  expression,  it  would  appear  that  with  these  Spanish-speak- 
ing pupils  the  recitations  in  geography,  history,  arithmetic,  etc., 
together  with  the  written  papers  in  connection  with  these  sub- 
jects should  often  be  in  the  Spanish  language  as  well  as  in  the 


160      ' CHAPTER  VIII. 

English.  For  these  students,  both  are  living  languages  and  both 
should  be  taught  in  the  way  that  is  necessary  for  obtaining  com- 
mand of  a  living  language.  After  a  certain  point  is  reached  for 
these  people,  not  much  would  be  required  beyond  a  continuity 
of  outside  but  supervised  home-reading  of  Spanish  books,  news- 
papers and  magazines.  On  the  expression  side,  oral  and  written, 
the  work  might  be  confined  simply  to  the  elimination  of  errors 
of  speech.  The  home  life  and  general  social  life  would  take 
care  of  the  fundamental  practice  training. 

To  those  to  whom  the  Spanish  is  not  their  native  tongue, 
the  schools  perhaps  do  well  in  beginning  the  work  with  the 
fifth  grade.  This  is  in  line  with  common  custom  in  progressive 
school  systems.  But  wherever  begun  for  these  pupils,  the 
schools  labor  under  a  tremendous  handicap.  A  language  is 
rightly  learned  only  where  it  is  naturally  spoken  in  connection 
with  the  things  and  objects  to  which  it  refers.  The  school-world 
is  an  artificial  world.  Not  a  great  deal  of  the  world  as  a  whole 
can  be  transferred  to  the  school.  Not  a  great  deal  of  the  natural 
conversational  topics  and  objects  of  reference  are  found  at  the 
school.  The  teachers  of  the  beginning  Spanish  classes  are  using 
excellent  methods  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  use  them  under  school 
conditions.  They  have  the  school-rooms  to  talk  about,  the 
school  buildings,  the  school  yard,  the  furniture,  the  parts  of  the 
body,  series  of  pictures,  etc.  There  is  a  sufficient  variety  of 
these  things  at  hand  for  the  beginnings  of  the  work  in  the  fifth 
grade,  and  a  good  foundation  can  here  be  laid  for  a  spoken  un- 
derstanding of  the  language.  This  teaching  conversation  is, 
however,  of  nesessity  a  bit  artificial.  After  the  first  few  months 
of  novelty  wears  off,  and  they  have  become  familiar  with  the 
various  objects  in  view  and  the  simple  actions  that  they  can  per- 
form, the  active  work  palls  and  interest  wanes.  They  need  to  go 
•on  to  new  things  and  new  situations ;  but  they  have  used  up  all 
that  are  within  scholastic  reach. 

For  these  pupils  'there  is  often  no  outside  fundamental 
Spanish  language-experience  in  which  they  freely  mingle.  The 
whole  thing,  fundamental  experience  as  well  as  supplemental 
training,  must  be  developed  at  the  school.  This  is  a  practical 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS 161 

impossibility.  Much  can  be  done,  but  there  can  be  no  adequate 
substitute  for  actual  association  with  Spanish-speaking  people 
as  the  fundamental  basis  of  the  training. 

The  nearest  substitute  that  can  be  had  after  the  preliminary 
conversational  work  is  covered  is  reading  of  a  copious,  interest- 
ing, and  varied  character.  The  children  beginning  with  the  high 
fifth  grade  and  continuing  on  as  long  as  they  continue  their 
Spanish  studies  need  to  have  a  great  wealth  of  stories  of  a  degree 
cf  difficulty  and  of  a  quality  or  character  fitted  to  their  degree 
of  maturity  and  their  special  interests.  A  part  of  their  literary 
training  should  be  arranged  for  in  connection  with  this  particular 
class ;  and  to  give  variety  of  topics  covered  in  the  reading,  va- 
nety  of  vocabulary,  and  variety  of  expression,  some  of  the  his- 
tory reading  of  these  students  should  be  in  Spanish  and  the  reci- 
tations in  the  Spanish  tongue.  These  recitations  would  probably 
best  be  partly  oral  and  partly  in  writing,  using  the  Spanish  as 
the  medium.  To  give  other  aspects  of  vocabulary  and  other 
kinds  of  serious  practice,  there  should  occasionally  be  long  read- 
ings together  with  oral  and  written  recitations  in  geography,  in 
hygiene  and  sanitation,  in  popular  sciences,  in  current  events, 
even  in  arithmetic,  etc.  It  can  all  be  done  by  the  Spanish 
teacher  using  supplementary  textbooks  in  Spanish.  The  thing 
needed  is  a  variety  of  contacts  with  reality  which  the  students 
can  take  seriously.  iWhen  the  class  runs  out  of  objects  in  the 
school-room  and  about  the  school  grounds,  they  can  get  into 
contact  with  imaginary  objects  by  looking  beyond  the  school 
grounds  into  the  objects  of  history,  geography,  literature,  and 
other  things.  It  is  merely  an  imaginative  extension  of  the  logical 
beginnings  in  the  fifth  grade ;  but  a  sound  extension.  Current 
events,  using  the  local  Spanish  papers  as  the  basis  of  the  work, 
may  probably  be  the  most  valuable  of  these  various  reading 
and  discussion  exercises.  We  are  not  recommending  that  more 
time  be  given  to  the  subject  than  is  now  given.  We  are  only 
recommending  that  more  reality  be  employed  as  the  basis  of  the 
teaching,  so  that  the  reading  may  be  more  interesting  and  the 
expression  more  vital.  When  this  is  done,  the  amount  of  time 
that  is  now  used  will  bring  forth  larger  results.  As  a  matter  of 


162  CHAPTER  VIII. 

fact  too  much  time  is  now  given  to  the  subject  by  many  pupils, 
because  of  this  lack  of  vitality.  There  are  students  beginning 
with  the  fifth  grade,  who  carry  Spanish  through  the  high  school, 
devoting  seven  years  to  the  subject.  This  is  entailing  an  undue 
expense  upon  the  city  for  what  in  many  cases  is  a  very  proble- 
matical benefit.  Spanish  is  one  of  the  easiest  of  modern  lan- 
guages. Most  of  those  who  take  Spanish  as  a  foreign  tongue 
will  have  relatively  little  need  of  it,  either  commercially,  socially, 
or  for  the  leisure  occupation  of  reading  Spanish  literature.  The 
majority  ought  to  get  all  that  they  need  in  much  less  time  than 
is  now  devoted  to  it.  For  a  few,  however,  whose  vocations  or 
social  relations  will  bring  them  into  frequent  direct  contact  with 
Mexican  affairs,  the  training  needs  to  be  full,  bringing  them  to  a 
high  standard  of  fluency  and  accuracy.  These  are  the  exceptions 
and  not  the  rule.  For  them  the  same  kind  of  training  is  needed 
as  for  those  whose  needs  are  smaller.  Simply,  they  ought  to  take 
the  full  length  of  the  course,  while  the  others  should  be  com- 
pelled to  stop,  so  far  as  the  public  investment  goes,  at  a  con- 
siderably lower  level.  Beyond  a  certain  level  the  training  is 
special  vocational  training.  The  city  is  justified  in  giving  spec- 
ialized vocational  training  only  to  those  who  consider  using  such 
training. 

The  need  of  employing  some  such  method  of  giving  variety 
of  reading  and  of  expression  can  be  observed  by  anyone  who  will 
study  the  situation.  I  visited  a  certain  fifth  grade  class  that 
was  being  taught  by  an  excellent  teacher.  The  work  that  was 
being  done  was  conversational,  natural,  and  of  a  very  superior 
character.  The  pupils  were  making  large  progress,  although 
they  had  been  studying  the  subject  for  less  than  four  months. 
I  visited  another  seventh  grade  class  taught  by  the  very  same 
superior  teacher.  She  was  using  as  the  basis  of  the  work  a 
widely  used  Spanish  book  especially  prepared  for  elementary 
schools,  which  contains  in  a  condensed  way  a  little  discussion 
about  a  very  great  variety  of  social,  industrial,  and  domestic 
situations.  These  situations  are  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
panding the  vocabulary.  The  reading,  however,  is  didactic.  It 
cannot  possibly  be  interesting  to  any  normal  mind.  The  teacher 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS         _ 163 

tried  to  use  the  things  there  set  down  as  the  basis  for  conversa- 
tional discussion  by  way  of  practicing  pupils  in  the  uses  of  the 
new  words  there  employed.  The  pupils,  however, — a  superior 
grade  of  students  from  the  best  social  class  in  San  Antonio — 
simply  could  not  give  their  attention  to  things  of  no  appeal. 
They  could  not  take  the  things  seriously  enough  for  real  con- 
versation. The  teacher  labored  heroically  and  it  seems  to  me 
a^  wisely  as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances  to  bring  the 
students  to  a  serious  consideration  of  the  things  being  read  so 
as  to  permit  the  necessary  conversational  practice.  Their  rest- 
lessness and  their  indifference,  however,  seemed  impervious  to 
either  artifice  or  persuasion.  About  all  the  teacher  could  do  was 
to  have  them  read  and  continue  to  read  from  the  pages  of  the 
book.  As  training  of  these  pupils  the  time  was  largely  wasted, 
for  the  majority  of  them. 

Two  things  were  mostly  to  blame.  One  was  the  use  of 
reading  materials  that  were  meaningless  and  useless  except  as 
mere  gymnastic  drills.  They  needed  reading  materials  that 
they  could  take  seriously ;  materials  read  for  the  sake  of  the  in- 
formation to  be  obtained ;  or  readings  for  the  interest  in  the 
story.  When  the  reading  materials  are  of  these  types  it  can  be 
made  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  discussion  and  recitation,  just  as 
history  written  in  English  can  be  used  as  the  basis  of  discussion 
and  recitation.  The  evil  discovered  could  be  cured  by  the  city's 
purchasing  for  the  library  of  every  school  where  Spanish  is 
taught  a  variety  of  easy  stories  for  the  pupils  to  read,  and  a 
variety  of  subject  matter  readings  such  as  listed  above;  and  by 
the  students  bringing  Spanish  newspapers  to  the  school  as  the 
basis  of  a  portion  of  the  work.  The  two  things  needed  in  conec- 
tion  with  the  reading  are  far  greater  copiousness  and  a  far 
greater  contact  with  actual  realities. 

The  second  thing  needed  is  a  rigorous  selection  of  the 
students  who  take  the  Spanish  courses,  whether  in  elementary 
school  or  in  the  high  school.  The  course  should  be  difficult 
to  get  into  and  easy  to  get  out  of.  It  should  be  difficult  for  a 
student  to  remain  in  the  course  if  he  is  not  taking  the  work  seri- 
ously and  making  real  progress.  At  the  present  time  there  is 


164 


a  general  regulation  of  a  most  unjustifiable  character,  to  the 
effect  that  "all  subjects  begun  by  pupils  below  the  high  school 
must  be  carried  through  the  prescribed  primary  and  grammar 
school  courses  until  the  subject  is  completed  in  accordance 
with  the  course  of  study."  Students  often  enter  the  Spanish 
classes  because  of  a  passing  whim  on  their  part  or  on  the  part  of 
the  parents.  After  beginning  the  work,  they  cannot  drop  it 
without  leaving  school  altogether.  The  marks  they  make  in 
Spanish  have  no  effect  upon  their  general  passing  grade.  They 
simply  pass  on  through  the  Spanish  classes,  fifth,  sixth,  and 
seventh  grades  ;  passive,  idle,  careless,  doing  little  for  them- 
selves, wasting  the  time  of  the  teacher,  wasting  their  own  time, 
acquiring  vicious  habits  of  study,  acquiring  a  highly  undesir 
able  attitude  of  mindt  and  preventing  good  work  on  the  part  of 
the  few  who  actually  want  to  master  the  Spanish.  The  evil  ed- 
ucational effects  of  such  a  regulation  for  half  the  students  who 
lose  interest  and  do  not  actually  pursue  the  subject  possibly  off- 
sets the  good  effect  of  beginning  the  work  in  the  elementary 
school  for  those  who  actually  want  to  master  the  Spanish.  The 
city  is  now  investing  about  $8,000  a  year  in  teaching  Spanish 
in  the  elementary  schools.  Half  of  this  is  not  given,  however, 
to  the  teaching  of  Spanish.  It  is  expended  upon  pupils  who  are 
making  little  or  no  attempt  actually  to  learn  the  language,  and 
from  whom  the  expenditure  ought  to  be  withdrawn  the  instant 
that  they  decline  to  do  the  work  in  proper  fashion.  Were  this 
done,  and  also  were  classes  in  the  subject  organized  every  year 
instead  of  every  half  year  so  as  to  permit  larger  classes  in  the 
elementary  schools,  or  if  the  Spanish  teaching  was  taken  care 
of  at  certain  centers  only  in  the  case  of  quite  small  classes,  it 
would  be  possible  to  accomplish  all  the  actual  elementary  Span- 
ish training  that  is  now  being  accomplished  with  half  the  present 
community  cost.  The  city  should  save  the  $4,000  that  it  is  now 
wasting  upon  the  indifferent  ones  and  spend  it  for  the  necessary 
books  and  magazines  for  the  actual  training  of  those  who  are 
trying  to  profit  by  the  facilities  so  generously  offered  by  the 
city.  For  these  diligent  ones,  actual  results  could  thereby  easily 
be  quadrupled. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  CERTAIN  SUBJECTS  165 

GERMAN. 

German  is  also  a  living  tongue  in  San  Antonio.  A  fairly 
large  proportion  of  the  children  in  school  are  of  German  parent- 
age. There  is  no  reason  to  think,  however,  that  German  will 
remain  a  living  language  on  the  part  of  any  considerable  portion 
or  the  population  of  the  city.  The  children  now  growing  up  are 
or'  the  second  and  third  generations.  Our  American  tongue  is 
now  more  nearly  their  vernacular  than  the  parental  German. 
There  is  no  nearby  German  border  to  keep  the  language  alive, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Spanish.  The  foreign  commerce  of  San  An- 
tonio is  very  inconsiderable,  so  that  it  is  not  needed  as  a  com- 
mercial language. 

It  is,  however,  a  means  of  social  communication  on  the 
part  of  German  residents  in  the  city  with  their  relatives  in  Ger- 
many. It  is  a  language  in  which  much  of  the  learning  of  the 
world  is  written.  It  possesses  a  large  and  valuable  literature. 
Knowledge  of  the  language  on  the  part  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion keeps  it  in  closer  sympathy  with  the  parental  generation. 
All  these  are  justifications  of  the  city's  course  in  giving  German 
beginning  with  the  fifth  school  grade  to  the  children  of  Ger- 
man parentage.  If  parents  are  anxious  that  children  learn  it 
the  work  is  greatly  facilitated,  since  the  fundamental  knowledge 
is  obtained  in  the  general  social  conversation  in  the  home  and  the 
wider  social  circle.  Schools  for  these  children  need  only  to  give 
that  quantity  of  grammar  necessary  for  correct  use  of  the  spoken 
and  written  German,  to  give  practice  in  the  writing  of  the  lan- 
guage and  to  guide  in  forming  habits  of  reading  German  litera- 
ture. 

For  these  children  the  work  can  be  accomplished  in  a  man- 
ner similar  to  that  already  explained  for  the  teaching  of  English 
ai.-d  of  Spanish.  For  these  children  to  whom  German  is  a  living 
tongue,  there  should  be  in  the  library  of  the  schools  a  copious 
amount  of  German  reading  adapted  to  the  level  of  maturity  and 
t(,  the  interests  of  the  children  of  the  various  ages,  covering  lit- 
erature, history,  geography,  industry,  popular  science,  current 
events,  etc.  The  grammar  taught  should  be  of  the  type  explained 


166 CHAPTER  vni. 

in  connection  with  the  teaching  of  English,  and  employing  simi- 
lar methods. 

If  German  parents  are  not  sufficiently  interested  in  the  mat- 
ter as  to  use  the  German  as  a  large  portion  of  the  language  of 
the  home,  then  it  would  seem  strange  if  they  should  expect  the 
S(  hools  to  take  up  the  full  task  of  training  the  children  in  the 
spoken  use  of  the  tongue.  Language  teaching  like  certain  other 
things  we  have  discussed  can  only  be  partially  transferred  in  its 
fundamentals  to  the  school.  Language  lives  naturally  only  where 
the  things  and  the  ideas  are  found  to  which  it  refers.  One  gets 
his  fundamental  language  training  only  as  his  language  experi- 
ences are  in  direct  contact  with  living  situations.  The  schools 
can  take  a  living  language  so  learned  and  perfect  its  use;  but 
they  lack  the  necessary  conditions  for  effective  practice.  They 
Ir'bor  under  the  large  handicap  referred  to  in  the  previous  section. 

There  is  the  same  general  handicap  in  the  training  in  Ger- 
man of  those  of  non-German  parentage,  to  whom  it  is  a  foreign 
language.  The  method  to  be  employed  is  wholly  analogous  to 
that  already  described  in  the  section  'above  concerning  the 
Spanish.  On  the  one  hand,  there  should  be  provision  for  the 
necessary  reading,  recitation,  discussion,  debate,  and  social  con- 
verse in  the  German  tongue.  This  will  mean  a  purchase  by  the 
city  for  the  libraries  of  a  large  quantity  of  German  reading  ma- 
terial, both  books  and  magazines.  The  children  themselves  ought 
tu  furnish  the  constant  current  supply  of  German  newspapers. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  course  for  the  non-German  children 
should  be  seriously  pursued  by  them  or  the  privilege  should  be 
withdrawn.  The  regulation  that  the  language  once  begun  must 
be  continued  for  the  three  years  of  the  elementary  school  should 
bt  rescinded.  Instead  of  its  being  hard  to  get  out  of  the  work 
once  begun,  it  should  be  hard  to  enter  it,  and  easy  to  drop  out  the 
moment  indifference  appears. 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      167 

Chapter  IX. 

GENERAL    ORGANIZATION    AND    ADMINISTRATION. 

As  one  reads  the  minutes  of  the  Board  for  recent  years  and 
the  published  Rules  and  Regulations,  it  is  clear  that  the  school 
city  is  fortunate  in  having  intelligent  and  liberal-minded  general 
management.  A  city  that  can  show  so  many  progressive  educa- 
tional developments  is  moving  along  the  right  road.  And  yet 
there  appears  to  be  some  lack  of  balance  in  the  distribution  of 
responsibilities.  The  various  individuals  upon  whom  responsi- 
bility rests  are  shown  in  Chart  VIII. 


168 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Chart  VIII. 


•/W  ofer^rxX^^j- 


\&*,Lf        I 


\S^',S*f,~\        I  '          I 

' 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      169 

In  the  distribution  of  responsibility  among  the  various  in- 
dividuals represented  in  this  chart,  three  things  can  be  said  with 
considerable  confidence : 

1.  Certain  functions  are  performed  by  the  state  that  would 
better  be  performed  by  the  school  board  and  superintendent. 
This  is  notably  the  case  in  the  choice  of  textbooks.  These  latter 
are  the  tools  of  instruction.  Every  city  of  the  size  and  import-  • 
ance  of  San  Antonio  should  have  the  right  to  choose  the  tools 
that  are  to  be  used.  It  is  impossible  to  have  one  set  of  textbooks 
that  will  equally  serve  the  purposes  of  all  social  classes  within 
the  scholastic  population  of  even  the  city  of  San  Antonio.  The 
textbooks  used  in  the  Navarro  School  should  many  of  them  be 
quite  different  from  those  used  in  the  Travis  School ;  and  these 
in  turn  different  from  those  used  in  the  Grant  School.  When 
this  is  the  case  within  a  single  city  it  js  certainly  very  much  more 
the  case  in  a  state  so  large  as  Texas,  with  its  rural  and  urban 
population,  its  agricultural  and  its  industrial  regions.  The  state 
does  not  require  uniform  desks,  uniform  chalk,  uniform  build- 
ings, uniform  qualifications  of  teachers,  etc.  Cities  are  permitted 
in  these  matters  to  fit  means  to  needs ;  but  in  textbooks  alone 
which  are  the  most  immediate  means  6f  instruction,  the  state 
has  unwarrantably  interfered  in  the  educational  rights  of  the  city 
That  neither  board,  superintendent  nor  teachers  are  free  to  - 
choose  the  most  essential  tools  that  they  are  to  use  in  the  work 
for  which  they  are  held  responsible  is  a  most  glaring  absurdity.  < 

There  is  only  one  way  out,  in  all  probability.  The  city  will 
have  to  furnish  the  tools  of  instruction  just  as  it  now  furnishes 
the  buildings,  fuel,  chalk,  teachers,  janitors,  repairs,  etc.  After 
spending  so  much  on  these  matters,  it  is  rather  short-sighted 
not  to  furnish  a  proper  assortment  of  the  instruments  needed  for 
instruction.  The  result  is  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  investment 
is  wasted.  Teachers'  salaries  in  San  Antonio  are  much  higher 
than  they  were  twenty  years  ago.  New  buildings  and  the  up- 
keep of  buildings  and  grounds  are  far  more  expensive  than  they 
.were  then.  It  is  probable  that  the  quality  of  the  results  have  not 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  cost.  This  is  largely  due  to  the . 
fact  that  the  textbook  situation  has  not  improved  in  any  extra- 


1/0 _ CHAPTER  IX. 

ordinary  degree.  The  situation  in  fact  is  not  greatly  different 
from  what  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  The  schools  have  been 
making  rapid  progress  on  the  side,  of  those  matters  that  are  taken 
care  of  at  public  expense.  Schools  have  always  been  backward 
and  always  will  be  backward  in  improving  those  things  that  are 
left  as  individual  burdens  upon  the  parents.  The  tools  of  in- 
struction of  a  twentieth-century  character  should  provide  for 
ten  times  as  much  reading_matter  as  th£_jjitiquated  tgxtbooks 
of  the  past  which  linger  into  the  present.  They  do  linger  and 
they  will  linger'  so  long  as  they  must  be  individually  purchased 
by  the  parents.  For  the  school  city  not  to  improve  the  means  of 
instruction  is  to  throw  away  a  third  at  .least  of  the  large  ex- 
penditures already  made.  If  the  school  city  should  set  to  work 
t  investigate  and  to  put  into  practice  every  kind  of  improvement 
possible  in  the  various  instruments  of  instruction,  it  is  altogether 
probable  that  the  city  could  get  done  all  that  is  now  done  in  half 
the  teaching  time  that  is  now  expended  and  at  not  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  expense. 

Outside  of  the  choice  of  textbooks,  it  seems  that  the  state 
has  given  the  education  functions  rather  liberally  over  to  the 
school  city. 

2.  A  second  thing  that  can  be  said  with  reference  to  the 
distribution  of  educational  responsibilities  is  that  the  school 
board  and  the  general  community  have  given  over  certain  essen- 
tial functions  in  altogether  too  great  measure  to  the  superintend- 
ent,  principals,  and  teachers.  Chief  among  these  delegated  re- 
sponsibilities which  oiight  not  to  be  so  fully  given  over  to  the 
professional  people  is  the  formulation  of  the  curriculum.  So 
completely  has  the  function  been  given  over  to  the  school  people 
that  the  schools  have  in  much  of  the  work  been  permitted  to 
drift  into  academic  eddies  apart  from  the  currents  of  practical 
affairs.  The  schools  have  been  permitted  to  teach  a  number  of 
expensive  things  that  can  be  of  little  use  to  anybody.  They 
have  been  left  too  much  to  give  what  they  pleased,  without 
looking  to  what  the  men  and  women  of  the  city  actually  need. 
In  previous  sections  we  have  pointed  to  the  waste  that  results 
from  letting  the  schools  force  algebra  and  geometry  upon  all 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      171 

high  school  students ;  in  requiring  three  years  of  Latin  if  any 
is  taken ;  in  giving  portions  or  kinds  of  history,  science,  civics, 
etc.,  which  are  not  sufficiently  related  to  the  world  in  which  men 
and  women  actually  move  and  act ;  in  the  growth  of  an  artificial, 
wasteful  methodology  in  the  elementary  school.  But  these 
wastes  constitute  only  half  the  story.  '  For  the  other  half,  there 
is  the  failure  of  the  schools  to  put  into  the  training  of  a 
twentieth-century  generation  so  many  of  the  additional  things 
that  they  are  going  to  need  for  meeting  present-day  problems. 
The  things  have  been  pointed  out  rather  fully  in  previous  chap- 
ters. 

The  schools  are  agents  of  the  public.  The  general  public 
directly  and  through  the  school  board  should  keep  the  schools 
informed  as  to  what  the  youth  of  the  city  are  going  actually 
to  need  when  they  arrive  in  the  world  of  affairs.  It  is  the 
business  men  of  the  community  who  ought  best  to  know  what 
is  needed  by  those  who  are  to  enter  business.  The  committees 
on  education  of  the  business  men's  organizations  should  formu- 
late statements  of  needs  and  give  them  over  to  the  schools.  The 
tradesmen,  members  of  trades  organizations,  etc.,  are  the  ones 
who  know  best  what  is  needed  by  those  who  are  to  be  success- 
ful in  the  various  mechanical,  factory,  and  building  trades. 
They  should  likewise  feel  their  responsibility  for  voicing  the 
educational  needs  of  their  class.  In  the  matter  of  home  work, 
it  is  intelligent  house-wives  who  ought  to  know  most.  They 
need  to  be  concerned  in  the  drawing  up  of  the  system  of  train- 
ing that  will  actually  reach  the  needs  of  their  daughters.  It  is 
the  civic  and  social  leaders  of  the  community  who  ought  to 
know  best  the  actual  needs  of  the  city  on  the  side  of  civic  and 
social  training  of  youth.  It  is  the  physicians  of  the  city  who 
ought  to  be  able  to  say  with  the  greatest  authority  what  train- 
ing in  hygiene  and  sanitation  should  be  given  to  the  children. 
It  is  the  guardians  of  law  and  order  at  the  head  of  which  stand 
the  judges  who  ought  to  know  most  about  the  things  in  which 
men  need  training  in  order  that  they  may  be  self-regulating. 

In  general,  communities  do  not  look  at  their  schools  in  a 
sufficiently  matter-of-fact  way.  There  seems  to  be  a  certain 


172 CHAPTER  IX. 

superstition  in  most  communities  as  to  the  magical  power  of 
schools  to  use  certain  kinds  of  useless  flummery  in  bringing 
forth  things  of  superior  value.  Communities,  however,  are  re- 
covering from  this  superstition.  They  are  coming  to  see  that 
the  development  of  such  powers  as  are  needed  is  as  much  a 
productive  task  as  the  labors  of  a  factory  or  a  farm.  The  factory 
will  produce  only  the  things  that  are  aimed  at.  The  farm  will 
produce  only  the  particular  things  that  are  cultivated.  A  school 
likewise  will  bring  forth  only  the  things  that  are  aimed  at  de- 
finitely. These  should  be  just  the  things  needed ;  and  the  com- 
munity should  not  be  willing  to  accept  a  substitute  with  the 
usually  deceptive  statement  that  it  is  just  as  good,  or  even  better. 
3.  Third,  in  the  distribution  of  responsibilities,  there  are 
very  many  easy  routine  functions  performed  by  the  board  and  its 
committees  which  ought  to  be  given  over  to  the  executive  em- 
ployees of  the  board.  For  these  executives  the  board  will  lay 
out  the  lines  of  general  policy.  It  will  expect  its  agents  to 
administer  the  routine  matters  in  accordance  with  these  general 
instructions.  In  reading  over  the  minutes  of  the  board  for  the 
last  two  years,  one  meets  with  such  matters  as  the  following, 
which  are  taken  care  of  by  the  board  in  their  meetings,  but 
which  would  better  be  taken  care  of  through  general  legislation : 

1.  Approval  of  the  high  school  commencement  program. 
One  would  think  that  if  the  school  principal  and  superintendent 
cannot  be   trusted   to  approve   the   high   school   commencement 
program  the  board  has  made  a  mistake  in  its  choice  of  these 
officials. 

2.  Permission  for  the  expert  adviser  of  the  school  board 
from  the  State  University  to  deliver  a  free  lecture  in  the  high 
school  auditorium.     It  would  seem  that  a  principal  or  superin- 
tendent ought  to  be  able  to  make  such  decision  in  ten  seconds  as 
a  non-debatable  routine  duty. 

3.  Making  emergency  repairs  of  a  minor  nature.     If  .the 
superintendent  of  buildings  and  grounds  cannot  be  trusted  to 
use  his  discretion  and  judgment  in  the  making  of  minor  emer- 
gency repairs,  he  ought  at  once  to  be  replaced  by  somebody  in 
whom  the  board  can  have  confidence. 


GENERAL  (  )kr,  ANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION       173 

4.  Consideration   of   requests   for   distributing   advertising 
mattter  in  the  schools.     Consideration  of  requests  for  announc- 
ing things  of  a  commercial  nature  in  the  schools.    These  matters 
ought  to  be  covered  by  general  legislation  of  the  board.     The 
business  agent  ought  to  be  able  to  answer  any  such  inquiries 
a^  a  portion  of  his  routine  duties. 

5.  The  high  school  asks  permission  to  use  its  own  audi- 
torium for  repeating  an  entertainment  designed  to  raise  funds. 
Considering  the  fact  that  the  board  expects  the  principals  of  the 
buildings  to  raise  funds  for  supplementary  books,  pianos,  etc., 
through  entertainments,  the  thing  in  the  abstract  is  approved  of. 
It  seems  strange  that  the  board  would  hire  a  high  school  prin- 
cipal of  such  calibre  that  he  cannot  be  trusted  to  make  decisions 
ae  to  the  giving  of  entertainments  in  his  own  building.     A  high 
school  principal  ought  to  be  a  man  of  as  sound  judgment  as 
school   board   members. 

6.  The  principal   of  one  of  the  elementary   schools  peti- 
tioned the  board  to  give  the  usual  Christmas  entertainment  at 
his  school.    This  could  easily  be  covered  by  general  legislation. 
A  better  plan  would  be  to  hire  only  principals  who  possess  dis- 
cretion, and  let  anybody  go  who  knows  himself  not  to  possess 
it. 

7.  The  girls  of  an  elementary  school  presented  a  petition 
for  laying  out  a  tennis  court  upon  the  grounds  at  one  of  the 
schools.     The  principal  ought  himself  to  be  able  to  make  de- 
cisions. 

I  went  through  the  minutes  of  the  board  for  the  last  year 
and  a  half,  and  classified  matters  covered  under  two  headings : 
(1)  Things  that  should  be  taken  care  of  by  the  board;  (2) 
Things  that  might  be  delegated  to  executive  officials.  Of  mat- 
ters of  the  first  type  which  the  board  should  retain,  the  list 
of  items  comprised  35  percent  of  the  whole.  Of  things  that 
might  well  be  delegated,  the  list  comprised  65  percent,  or  twice 
as  many.  These  latter  are  routine  matters  that  can  be  taken 
care  of  rapidly  and  easily  by  responsible  executive  officers. 
They  need  supervision,  certainly ;  but  the  board  has  chosen  the 
wrong  men  if  they  have  to  do  more  than  supervise.  The  agents 


174 CHAPTER  IX. 

ought  to  be  more  expert  than  the  board ;  and  to  be  able  to  make 
right  decisions  more  expeditiously  and  with  fewer  mistakes. 
Laymen  can  supervise  intelligently  many  things  that  they  can- 
not do  intelligently. 

We  do  not  recommend  that  the  school  board  have  fewer 
meetings,  or  shorter  meetings,  or  that  it.  take  care  of  a  less 
amount  of  business..  In  my  opinion  the  serious  matters  con- 
fronting the  school  city  of  San  Antonio  cannot  be  adequately 
taken  care  of  by  the  board  in  less  than  the  liberal  amount  of 
time  that  is  now  given  to  it.  They  need  to  place  the  routine 
functions  into  expert  executive  hands,  in  order  that  they  may 
have  more  time  for  the  larger  board  functions  to  which  we  re- 
ierred  in  the  previous  section.  Many  things  have  been  delegated 
to  the  school  people  which  ought  to  be  kept  in  the  hands  of 
board  and  community ;  and  many  things  have  not  been  delegated 
to  the  school  people  which  ought  to  have  been.  We  are  suggest- 
ing that  the  board  give  up  the  petty  routine  things  to  which 
they  hold  and  undertake  the  matters  of  large  serious  responsi- 
bility  relating  to  the  curriculum  and  the  provision  of  the  means 
necessary  for  efficiently  carrying  out  the  work.  We  recommend 
that  the  board  take  care  of  the  large  problems  of  general  policy 
rather  than  the  little  problems  of  specific  application.  By  giv- 
ing so  much  time  to  the  latter,  the  board  consumes  time  needed 
by  the  former. 

Such  weaknesses  as  exist  in  the  schools  of  San  Antonio 
stem  to  be  due  in  large  measure  to  the  state  of  tutelage  in  which 
practically  everybody  from  superintendent  down  has  been  held. 
The  state  has  decreed  the  studies  that  shall  be  taught  in  ele- 
mentary schools;  and  the  textbooks  that  shall  be  used.  The 
colleges  have  decreed  the  subjects  and  the  units  which  shall  be 
given  in  the  high  schools.  The  board  has  held  most  powers 
of  initiative  except  as  to  the  routine  class-room  teaching.  Teach- 
ers and  supervisors  have  had  too  much  to  go  like  children  and 
get  permission  to  do  almost  anything  that  they  do.  They  have 
largely  been  forbidden  the  exercise  of  individual  responsibility 
and  initiative.  Visible  responsibility  is  not  a  thing  that  will 
grow  in  such  an  atmosphere.  Things  will  not  be  corrected  until 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      175 

responsibility  can  be  so  distributed  that  everybody  can  bear  his 
due  share. 

What  ought  to  be  the  relation  of  the  various  members  of  the 
school  organization  to  each  other?  What  is  the  proper  subordi- 
nation of  the  various  individuals  ?  In  this  age  of  scientific 
management,  it  can  be  partially  represented  by  the  diagram  in 
Chart  IX. 


176 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Chart  IX. 


7-0 


4.  *      crcs 


I  if  7  /?*> 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION       177 

Over  all  of  the  individuals  concerned  in  the  education  of 
the  children  of  the  city,  there  is  the  body  of  scientific  educa- 
tional information  as  it  applies  to  conditions  in  San  Antonio, 
Efficiency  of  labor  consists  merely  in  obeying  the  dictates  of 
that  science.  The  much-heralded  scientific  management  is  noth- 
ing- but  the  management  by  science.  Officials  do  not  obey  the 
arbitrary  dictates  of  other  officials ;  they  obey  that  which  is  over 
and  above  all  officials.  Further,  officials  do  not  act  only  as 
they  are  ordered  to  act  by  persons  above  them ;  they  act  in 
obedience  to  that  which  incessantly  sits  in  authority  and  cease- 
lessly gives  its  orders. 

With  scientific  management,  there  is  diminished  need  of  the 
subordination   of   persons    to   other   persons.      Instead   of   this, 
there  is  the  subordination  of  all  to  impersonal  dictates.     This 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  organization  under  scien- 
tific management.     The  other  most  striking  thing  is  the  dis- 
tribution of  responsibility  for  the  details   of  the  work.     This 
responsibility  is  distributed  to  those  who  are  in  a  position  to 
be  most  familiar  with  the  work  to  be  performed.     In  the  man-    \ 
agement  of  a  school  system,  certain  functions  should  be  held  by    / 
the  community  because  they  are  the  ones  in  a  position  best  to 
know  those  things.     Other  matters  should  be  given  to  the  sup-    / 
erintendent  because  he  is  in  a  more  advantageous  position  for    \ 
understanding  those  things.     Initiative  in  other  matters  belongs 
to  the  principals  and  special  supervisors  because  of  their  prox- 
imity to  the  facts.     Responsibility  for  still  other  things  must 
necessarily  be  placed  upon  the  teachers,  because  they  are  nearest 
to  the  facts  concerned.     Still  other  things,  even,  must  be  left 
to  the  pupils  for  the  reason  that  they  know  most  about  certain 
things  involved. 

We  are  thus  given  a  criterion  of  judgment  as  to  the  right 
placing  of  every  function  that  is  to  be  performed.  Yet  they 
are  not  shifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  others  merely  because 
they  are  placed  upon  specific  ones.  Scientific  management  pro- 
vides a  democratic  co-operative  arrangement.  All  are  special- 
ists within  the  field,  working  side  by  side  for  common  ends. 
As  in  the  co-operative  carrying  of  any  burden,  when  one  fails 


178  CHAPTER  IX. 

to  perform  his  function  adequately  because  of  a  lack  of  under- 
standing, responsibilty  for  performing  this  function  falls  auto- 
matically upon  those  who  do  understand.  Making  responsibility 
definite  under  this  plan  does  not  relieve  -the  other  members  of 
the  organization.  When  a  teacher  fails,  the  responsibility  falls 
back  upon  the  principal  to  get  the  work  done,  by  bringing  up 
the  teacher's  knowledge,  by  disciplining  her,  or  by  replacing  her 
with  someone  else.  When  a  principal  fails  to  live  up  to  the 
responsibilities  which  the  scientific  demands  place  upon  him, 
the  responsibility  falls  automatically  upon  the  superintendent. 
If  the  superintendent  fails,  then  the  responsibility  automatically 
falls  upon  the  board.  If  the  board  fails,  the  responsibility  rests 
back  on  the  generaLpublic  to  make  good  the  deficiency.  Scien- 
tific management  is  no  respecter  of  the  legalities  of  the  place- 
ment of  functions.  The  total  responsibility  for  the  work  is 
placed  upon  all ;  and  when  one  fails  anywhere  along  the  line, 
the  total  responsibility  distributes  itself  over  all  the  others. 

Looking  at  the  matter  from  the  other  point  of  view,  if  the 
school  board  and  community  fail  to  do  their  part  in  defining 
the  educational  needs  of  the  children  of  the  community,  then 
the  superintendent  and  teachers  do  not  escape  the  responsibility 
simply  because  they  have  not  received  their  orders  from  their 
employers.  The  body  of  educational  science  is  commanding 
them  to  their  labors  just  as  fully  as  if  the  community  was  per- 
forming its  part.  What  the  community  does  not  perform,  it  is 
incumbent  upon  them  to  undertake.  The  responsibility  falls 
heavy  upon  the  superintendent  in  such  a  case.  He  not  only  has 
his  own  legitimate  labors  to  carry  but  also  the  arduous  and  pro- 
fessionally dangerous  task  of  educating  the  community  to  a 
realization  of  its  responsibilities. 

When  the  superintendent  fails  to  perform  his  portion  of 
the  educational  task,  the  principals  and  teachers  are  not  thereby 
relieved  of  their  responsibility.  The  body  of  educational  science 
commands  them  to  their  labors  just  as  fully  as  ever.  Simply, 
they  lack  certain  overhead  help  which  they  must  make  good  in 
some  other  manner  if  it  is  not  extended.  If  superintendent  and 
principals  are  both  inefficient,  this  in  no  wise  relieves  the  teach- 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      179 

ers  of  their  responsibility.  They  must  none  the  less  do  their 
labors  in  full  obedience  to  the  educational  science  as  it  applies 
to  them. 

Each  individual,  wherever  he  is  along  the  line,  reads  his 
orders,  not  in  arbitrary  instructions  from  officers,  but  in  the 
educational  science  as  it  applies  to  their  labors.  The  assembling 
of  this  science  and  the  making  it  clear  to  the  various  persons 
concerned  is  no  easy  task.  It  alone,  however,  can  be  the  basis 
of  educational  efficiency  in  a  democracy,  if  this  is  ever  attained. 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT. 

The  superintendent  occupies  a  position  of  peculiar  respon- 
sibility. He  is  the  intermediary  between  the  public  and  their 
schools.  His  function  resembles  that  of  the  architect  as  in- 
termediary between  owner  and  contractor.  He  must  verify 
the  validity  of  the  demands  of  the  community.  He  must  then 
reconcile  the  demands  with  educational  possibilities.  He  must 
take  all  the  suggestions  given  by  the  community  and  then  em- 
body them  in  a  workable  educational  program.  This  the  com- 
munity cannot  do ;  neither  can  it  be  done  by  the  board.  Just 
as  an  architect  in  the  case  of  a  building,  they  lack  the  special 
qualifications  for  the  expert  adjustment  of  the  details.  Com- 
munity and  board  can  tell  what  they  want;  then  under  their 
supervision  the  superintendent  will  draw  up  the  courses  of 
study,  select  the  textbooks  to  be  used,  select  the  supplementary 
books,  apparatus,  equipment,  select  teachers  who  have  the  neces- 
sary qualifications  for  doing  the  work  desired,  etc.  Recurring 
to  our  former  principle  of  scientific  management,  it  is  he  who 
is  in  a  position  best  to  understand  these  various  technical  educa- 
tional matters.  The  responsibility  for  the  labors  should  neces- 
sarily be  placed  upon  his  shoulders,  with  those  less  expert  sit- 
ting in  supervisory  capacity. 

In  thus  placing  responsibility  upon  the  superintendent,  the 
board  is  not  thereby  relieved.  They  must  approve  or  disapprove 
of  the  results  of  his  labors.  In  order  to  judge  wisely,  they  must 
be  in  contact  with  the  schools.  They  must*  know  his  actual 


180 CHAPTER  IX. 

labors,  not  his  mere  statement  of  them.  They  should  visit  the 
schools,  observe,  discuss,  and  lead  in  community  discussion. 
Unless  they  know  rather  intimately  the  way  their  suggestions 
work  out  in  actual  educational  practice,  they  are  not  in  a  position 
to  approve  or  disapprove  of  the  decisions  of  the  superintendent/ 
School  board  members  are  not  supposed  to  be  mere  rubber- 
stamps,  blindly  approving  or  disapproving.  They  must  know 
what  is  going  on. 

The  responsibilities  of  the  superintendent  indicate  the  quali- 
fications that  he  should  possess.  He  needs  to  know  the  world 
of  men  and  of  affairs  as  fully  as  he  knows  children  and  books 
and  educational  processes.  He  must  be  an  expert  in  the  needs 
of  society  and  in  the  means  and  methods  of  education, — a  scien- 
tific specialist  with  wide  social  vision  and  understanding. 

In  the  performance  of  what  kinds  of  duties  wrll  the  super- 
intendent spend  most  of  his  professional  time?  On  the  one 
hand,  he  will  mingle  with  men  of  all  social  classes  by  way  of 
familiarizing  himself  with  the  educational  needs  of  all  social 
classes.  Second,  he  will  study  the  workings  of  education  pro- 
cesses as  these  exist  in  the  various  school-rooms  in  the  city. 
Third,  he  will  adjust  the  educational  processes  to  the  needs  of 
the  population  as  fully  and  as  accurately  as  his  studies  of  both 
will  permit.  Like  the  expert  hospital  physician  he  will  spend 
most  of  his  time  in  studying  the  factors  of  the  situation  and 
in  making  decision  as  to  what  is  to  be  done.  -  He  will  be  an 
observer,  an  investigator,  and  a  director.  Most  or  all  of  the 
routine  labors  will  be  carried  out  by  others.  He  will  spend 
little  time  in  his  office.  He  will  spend  little  time  in  actually  direct- 
ing the  work  of  the  class-room  teachers.  He  will,  however,  spend 
very  much  of  his  time  within  class-rooms  by  way  of  seeing  how 
general  policies  are  being  carried  through  by  principals,  special 
supervisors,  and  teachers.  For  this  direction  of  the  situation 
and  for  these  expert  judgments  as  to  things  to  be  carried  out 
by  his  assistants  he  must  also  read  widely  as  to  the  practices 
of  other  cities;  and  he  should  have  opportunities  for  visiting 
the  work  of  progressive  cities  for  the  sake  of  ideas.  In  a  word, 
the  superintendent  of  the  schools  in  San  Antonio  must  be  the 


r.KNERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      181 

specialist  par  excellence  in  all  the  wide  range  of  educational 
science,  as  this  applies  to  conditions  within  San  Antonio ;  and 
out  of  this  superior  knowledge  it  is  for  him  to  make  the  decis- 
ions used  for  guiding  the  work  within  the  schools  of  the  city. 

As  related  to  persons,  his  supervision  will  have  chiefly 
to  do  with  the  principals  and  special  supervisors.  His  function 
will  be  to  keep  the  work  of  each  of  these  up  to  standard.  Princi- 
pals and  supervisors  will  then  pass  the  things  on  to  the  teachers. 

Investment  in  this  expert  direction  is  the  one  thing  in  which 
the  school  board  can  least  afford  to  economize. 

THE  ASSISTANT  SUPERINTENDENT. 

San  Antonio  needs  an  assistant  superintendent.  In  order 
that  the  superintendent  be  relieved  of  routine  responsibility  it 
i-j  necessary  that  there  be  someone  of  large  educational  under- 
standing to  take  care  of  the  routine  work  of  the  office;  the 
correspondence;  the  consultations  with  parents,  principals,  teach- 
ers, etc.,  concerning  personal  or  other  minor  matters ;  consulta- 
tions with  supply  agents ;  consultations  with  prospective  new 
teachers  by  way  of  weeding  out  all  of  those  except  the  promis- 
ing ones  who  naturally  would  go  before  the  superintendent ;  and, 
in  co-operation  with  the  business  agent  of  the  board,  drawing 
up  forms  and  taking  care  of  the  work  of  statistical  investigation 
and  appraisal.  For  a  fairly  large  portion  of  his  time,  the  assist- 
ant superintendent  would  be  engaged  in  active  supervision  of  the 
work  of  the  buildings  of  the  city.  With  the  primary  supervisor 
looking  after  the  first  three  grades,  as  it  might  well  be  arranged, 
the  assistant  superintendent  might  look  after  the  other  four 
grades  as  his  special  supervisory  responsibility. 

Since  the  assistant  superintendent  along  with  the  business 
agent  will  be  responsible  for  conducting  what  is  in  certain  cities 
now  called  the  Bureau  of  Investigation  and  Appraisal,  it  is  de- 
sirable that  he  be  not  only  a  man  of  practical  experience,  but 
also  be  well-informed  as  to  the  latest  developments  in  the  applica- 
tion of  measurement  to  the  problems  of  supervision ;  an  expert 
in  educational  accounting  of  every  type ;  and  also  trained  in  ed- 


182  CHAPTER  DC. 

ucational  psychology,  educational  methods,  and  in  the  problems 
o*  educational  administration.  The  chief  problem  is  finding  a 
man  for  such  a  position.  To  get  a  cheap  man  for  the  work 
would  be  mostly  a  waste  of  money.  While  there  are  many  men 
who  are  well-equipped  for  the  task,  they  generally  prefer  college 
and  normal  school  positions  because  of  the  uncertainty  of  tenure 
in  our  city  systems  as  at  present  managed. 

THE  BUILDING  PRINCIPAL. 

Each  principal  should  be  to  his  district  what  the  super- 
intendent is  to  the  entire  city.  It  is  desirable  that  he  have 
within  his  district  the  same  type  of  social  outlook,  the  same 
variety  of  social  contacts,  and  that  he  should  exercise  the  same 
kind  of  social  leadership.  He  should  know  the  social  condi- 
tions and  the  social  needs  of  his  district  in  order  rightly  to 
adjust  the  work.  Covering  a  smaller  area,  his  knowledge  of 
people  and  their  affairs  is  necessarily  much  more  detailed  and 
exact.  Within  his  special  district,  he  is  more  an  authority  upon 
social  needs  than  can  be  the  superintendent.  In  the  adjustment, 
therefore,  of  the  educational  work  to  his  building,  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  superintendent  must  in  part  be  classified  along- 
side those  of  the  laymen.  They  represent  the  general  outlines  of 
things  desirable  to  be  done.  The  specific  form  of  application, 
however,  needs  to  be  decided  by  the  principal  himself  from  his 
more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  situation  within  the  district.  The 
principal  will,  therefore,  take  the  recommendations  of  the  super- 
intendent as  to  courses  of  study ;  and  within  limits  there  set 
down  will  work  up  details  of  the  course  for  himself  so  as  to  fit 
his  own  special  problems.  Likewise  the  principal  should  be  per- 
mitted to  choose  those  textbooks  that  will  best  adapt  themselves 
to  his  particular  courses  of  study;  also  the  necessary  supple- 
mentary books,  as  they  are  mistakenly  called;  the  necessary 
printed  helps;  so  far  as  administratively  possible,  choice  of  the 
teachers  to  be  employed  in  his  buliding  so  as  to  have  teachers 
who  are  fitted  for  his  special  problems ;  and  the  specific  methods 
of  work. 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      183 

The  superintendent's  decisions  should  be  sufficiently  gen- 
eral and  flexible  as  to  apply  to  any  school.  The  principal  of 
that  school  will  be  the  determiner  of  the  details, — all  within 
the  outline  limits  set  by  the  superintendent's  interpretations 
and  decisions.  And  yet  when  the  superintendent  fails  to  do  his 
part  correctly,  the  responsibility  for  the  general  outlines  falls 
ir:  part  upon  the  principal.  This  does  not  mean  insubordination. 
It  means  only  that  discussion  on  the  part  of  all  concerned  out 
of  which  alone  the  truth  and  the  correct  methods  will  be  dis- 
covered. This  needs  to  be  emphasized  because  of  the  undesirable 
effects  of  the  over-subordination  so  clearly  discernible  in  the 
school  organization.  Efficiency  and  democracy  are  both  pos- 
sible at  the  same  time. 

At  the  present  time  the  principals  are  limited  in  too  many 
ways.  Principals  of  Mexican  and  Negro  schools  are  required 
in  too  large  measure  to  teach  the  same  grammar,  the  same  read- 
ing lessons,  the  same  handwriting,  etc.,  that  is  given  in  all 
schools.  The  work  is  often  wastefully  ill-adapted  to  the  needs 
of  the  pupils.  Instead  of  limiting  the  principal's  freedom,  he 
should  be  forced  to  take  the  initiative ;  and  then  held  responsible 
by  the  others  in  supervisory  authority. 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL. 

The  high  school  principal  occupies  a  position  of  great  re- 
sponsibility. Within  the  high  school  is  accomplished  the  most 
vital  portion  of  the  education  of  the  best  youth  of  San  Antonio. 
Previous  to  entrance  into  the  high  school  they  have  been  master- 
ing the  tools  and  rudiments  of  knowledge.  As  they  enter  upon 
adolescence  they  begin  to  take  on  the  adult  points  of  view;  and 
their  serious  education  for  adulthood  may  be  said  to  begin.  The 
four  years  from  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  to  seventeen  or 
eighteen  are  the  most  critical  of  their  educational  years,  even 
though  they  go  on  to  college  and  professional  school.  It  is  at 
this  age  that  their  general  outlook  upon  life  will  be  shaped, 
their  social  and  moral  standards  formed,  their  habits  of  body 
and  mind  largely  fixed.  The  large  majority  of  them  will  go 


184 CHAPTER  IX. 

direct  from  the  high  school  into  the  world  of  affairs  without 
further  training;  and  will  therefore  need  to  be  well-equipped 
for  their,  vocations,  for  their  civic  functions,  their  leisure  occu- 
pations, etc. 

While  the  superintendent  bears  large  responsibility  here, 
yet  he  has  many  other  important  things  to  do.  The  high  school 
principal  needs  to  see  the  situation  of  youth  in  the  city  in  the 
same  wide  social  way  required  of  the  superintendent.  No  less 
than  the  latter  he  needs  to  be  a  man  among  men,  mingling  with 
all  social  classes.  On  the  other  hand,  better  than  the  superin- 
tendent he  should  know  the  needs  of  adolescence.  He  should 
be  concerned  with  laying  out  the  details  of  the  courses  of  study 
in  all  subjects  in  the  high  school.  He  is  responsible  for  the 
totality  of  the  work ;  he  must  therefore,  lay  down  the  lines  of 
general  policy  for  each  of  the  high  school  departments. 

Within  any  given  department,  the  head  of  the  department 
and  the  teachers  will  take  their  readings  of  the  community  needs 
and  the  recommendations  of  the  building  principal,  and  they  will 
embody  them  in  more  detailed  courses  of  study  for  the  use  of 
their  special  classes.  They  will,  however,  confine  themselves 
within  the  limits  laid  down  by  the  principal  himself.  His  super- 
vision will  hold  them  there, — so  long  as  he  is  right.  When  he 
is  wrong,  responsibility  automatically  falls  back  upon  them, 
and  upon  the  superintendent. 

The  high  school  principal  should  spend  little  time  in  his 
office  during  school  hours.  He  should  have  no  routine  office 
work  to  do.  The  city  cannot  afford  to  pay  $3000  for  work  that 
can  be  as  well  done  by  a  $1200  clerk.  The  large  problems  of 
high  school  supervision  are  endlessly  complicated  and  require 
the  full  attention  and  the  full  energies  of  the  principal. 

SUPERVISORS   OF   SPECIAL   SUBJECTS. 

The  supervisors  of  special  subjects  will  look  to  the  needs 
of  the  entire  city,  just  as  does  the  superintendent;  but  each 
looks  to  but  a  special  aspect  of  the  city's  life.  This  they  will 
know  intensively  and  minutely.  Each  should  be  the  first  author- 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      185 

ity  within  the  city  as  to  the  details  of  his  subject.  In  a  sense 
the  superintendent  approaches  the  special  supervisors  from  the 
same  direction  as  the  layman.  The  superintendent  sees  the 
whole  field  in  balanced  proportion,  and  seeks  to  adjust  every 
portion  of  the  work  to  every  other  portion.  But  after  laying  out 
the  general  outlines,  he  has  to  leave  to  these  assistants  the  ar- 
rangements of  the  details  within  the  general  outlines.  Just  as 
the  general  community  and  school  board  will  supervise  the 
superintendent,  so  the  superintendent  will  supervise  these  special- 
ists, to  see  that  in  the  detailed  workings  of  their  department 
they  are  actually  carrying  out  the  general  policies  that  he  has 
from  his  wider  interpretation  of  the  science  laid  out  for  them. 
At  present  certain  of  these  supervisors  appear  either  to  have 
too 'much  freedom  or  the  superintendent  has  not  laid  out  the 
general  outlines  of  policy  within  which  their  work  must  find 
itself. 

Several  of  the  special  supervisorships  in  the  city  have  grown 
out  of  extensions  of  the  work  of  heads  of  departments  in  the 
high  schools  to  the  work  of  the  grades.  This  is  a  thing  that 
ought  to  be  carried  further.  The  heads  of  the  high  school 
science  work  might  well  be  the  supervisors  of  science  teaching  in 
the  grades ;  the  heads  of  the  history  work  might  well  supervise 
history  work  all  the  way  down ;  and  so  on  with  geography, 
civics,  hygiene,  mathematics,  etc.  It  is  a  method  of  introducing 
vertical  supervision  alongside  the  horizontal  supervision  of 
primary  supervisor,  grammar  grade  supervisor,  and  principals 
of  elementary  and  high  schools.  If  they  can  get  the  scientific 
attitude  of  mind,  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  conflicts  of  authority. 
Every  difference  of  interpretation  means  friendly  discussion 
until  the  truth  can  be  found. 

TEACHERS. 

The  teacher  is  to  the  families  of  the  children  in  her  charge 
what  the  principal  is  to  the  district,  or  what  the  superintendent 
is  to  the  city.  The  teacher  needs  to  be  in  social  contact  with 
the  families  so  as  to  know  the  special  problems  relating  to  the 


186 - CHAPTER  IX. 

education  of  their  children.  She  stands  to  them  educationally  in 
the  relation  that  the  family  physician  stands  to  them  on  the  side 
of  health.  She  cannot  know  how  to  adapt  her  labors  to  the 
situation  of  the  children  without  being  in  contact  with  the  fam- 
ilies. She  cannot  rightly  control  motives.  She  cannot  properly 
relate  the  supplementary  work  of  the  school  with  the  funda- 
mental educational  influences  about  the  children.  The  teacher 
should  generally  live  within  the  district  where  she  works ;  and 
she  should  know  the  district  intimately. 

;This  is,  said  with  full  knowledge  of  the  suprise  with  which 
such  a  recommendation  is  viewed  by  teachers.  Education  has 
for  so  long  been  within  a  social  vacuum,  and  with  such  indif- 
ference as  to  whether  the  work  of  the  school  relates  itself  to  the 
life  of  the  community,  that  to  teachers  at  least  this  absurd 
isolation  seems  perfectly  right  and  normal.  The  discussion  of 
previous  chapters  shows  why  teachers  should  know  the  lives 
and  home  conditions  of  the  children  as  fully  as  she  knows  books 
and  educational  methods. 

THE  BUSINESS  AGENT. 

Of  the  various  employees  of  the  board  the  business  agent 
appears  to  be  the  one  best  informed  as  to  principles  of  modern 
management.  His  system  of  financial  accounting  is  thoroughly 
modern.  He  is  carrying  the  same  principles  into  the  other 
fields  of  educational  accounting  as  they  refer  to  pupils,  teachers, 
bulidings,  supplies,  etc.  He  is  attempting  to  set  up  standards 
of  various  kinds  in  the  light  of  which  to  judge  the  efficiency 
of  the  work  in  its  various  aspects.  More  than  any  other  within 
the  system  he  appears  to  realize  that  impersonal  standards  of 
judgment  and  impersonal  science  should  control  in  the  making 
of  all  decisions. 

The  question  of  the  proper  subordination  of  the  business 
agent  in  the  literature  of  school  administration  remains  un- 
settled. One  writer  would  have  him  a  co-ordinate  of  the  super- 
intendent under  the  board,  looking  after  the  physical  administra- 
tion; another  would  have  him  a  subordinate  of  the  superintend- 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      187 

ent,  looking  after  the  material  aspects  of  the  things  for  which 
the  superintendent  is  responsible.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ques- 
tion is  of  importance  only  so  long  as  management  is  personal 
and  arbitrary.  In  proportion  as  management  becomes  the  appli- 
cation of  impersonal  scientific  standards,  the  problem  of  the 
official  subordination  of  the  various  individuals  diminishes  in 
importance.  It  is  transmuted  into  the  problem  of  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  specialists  of  equal  rank.  The  business  agent  then  be- 
comes simply  one  specialist  among  many,  each  having  his 
special  division  of  the  work.  Subordination  is  not  a  question 
that  often  needs  to  enter  in.  So  long  as  his  labors  are  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  dictates  of  the  best  information  relative  to  the  things 
with  which  he  deals,  there  can  be  no  personal  authority  that  can 
be  so  good  as  the  dictates  of  this  well-studied  information.  Those 
in  supervisory  authority  will  keep  in  touch  with  his  labors  to 
see  that  it  is  so  controlled. 

SUPERINTENDENT    OF    BUILDINGS    AND    GROUNDS. 

There  is  a  fairly  large  quantity  of  pretty  well-defined  science 
nowadays  relating  to  school  buildings.  This  science  refers 
to  drainage  of  grounds,  surfacing  of  grounds,  school  fences, 
arrangements  of  trees  and  playgrounds,  the  lighting  of  school 
rooms,  heating,  ventilation,  cleaning  of  buildings,  the|  control 
of  blinds,  the  arrangement  of  the  furniture  in  the  rooms,  the 
cMrection  of  light  upon  the  desks,  means  of  increasing  the  light 
where  it  is  deficient,  the  height  of  black-boards,  the  quantity 
of  black-boards,  color  arrangements  of  school  rooms,  aesthetic 
lines  and  proportions,  etc.,  etc.  These  matters  of  science  as  they 
relate  to  school  buildings  are  pretty  well  laid  out  in  our  books 
on  the  subject.  Further,  it  is  possible  to  have  standards  as  to 
the  number  of  square  feet  of  black-board  that  can  be  repainted 
in  a  day,  standards  as  to  the  cost  per  100  square  feet  of  calci- 
mining  rooms,  etc.,  etc.,  which  should  control  in  the  supervision 
of  the  work. 

While  things  are  generally  well  done,  there  was  frequent 
evidence  that  this  science  is  not  always  in  active  control  of  de- 


188 CHAPTER  IX. 

cisions.  The  quality  of  the  lighting  could  not  remain  such  as  it 
it  in  certain  of  the  rooms  if  the  obtainable  information  were 
actually  at  work.  The  color  schemes  now  so  often  found  would 
not  longer  exist  after  the  first  re-decoration.  Black-boards  would 
not  be  placed  too  high  in  certain  rooms,  too  low  in  others,  and 
superposed  one  over  another  in  such  unsightly  fashion  as  in 
School  No.  6.  The  stove  jackets  would  not  lack  their  asbestos 
lining.  New  additions  to  buildings  would  not  be  placed  so  as 
to  destroy  the  lighting  of  the  original  building,  etc.,  etc. 

A  superintendent  of  buildings  and  grounds  needs  to  be 
pretty  well-informed  as  to  architectural  science  and  design, 
sanitary  science,  particularly  as  related  to  schools,  landscape 
gardening,  and  the  relation  of  the  buildings  and  grounds  to  the 
processes  of  education. 

JANITORS. 

In  large  measure  the  work  of  principals  and  teachers  is  the 
setting  of  conditions  of  right  living  as  a  fundamental  means 
of  education.  Indispensable  in  this  setting  of  conditions  is 
the  work  of  the  janitor.  He  has  much  to  do  with  the  attractive- 
ness of  the  rooms,  the  school  grounds,  and  the  general  surround- 
ings. He  has  large  control  over  the  lighting  of  the  rooms,  the 
ventilation,  the  sanitation  of  the  buildings  and  grounds,  etc.  He 
has  the  task  of  keeping  down  dust,  of  disinfecting  toilets  and 
school  rooms,  of  placing  and  adjusting  school  desks,  of  caring 
for  the  black-boards  and  erasers,  of  the  general  management  of 
the  basement  in  those  schools  that  have  basements,  or  regulating 
the  temperature  of  the  class-rooms.  He  needs  to  know  the 
theory  and  management  of  .systems  of  ventilation ;  how  to  oil 
floors  and  keep  them  in  condition ;  the  necessity  of  sweeping 
compounds  and  how  to  make  them;  the  control  of  plumbing 
fixtures;  precautions  to  take  against  the  spread  of  fires,  etc., 
etc.  Merely  to  be  able  to  sweep  a  room  does  not  make  a  janitor. 
He  too  needs  a  fairly  large  amount  of  technical  information. 
Science  should  rule  in  the  janitorial  department  just  as  fully 
as  in  any  other.  The  superintendent  of  buildings,  the  school 


GENERAL  ORGANIZATION  &  ADMINISTRATION      189 

physician,  etc.,  need  to  call  the  janitors  together  for  instruction 
occasionally  just  as  superintendent  and  principals  call  teachers 
together  in  .Saturday  institutes. 

THE   MEDICAL   DEPARTMENT. 

The  medical  department  has  been  sufficiently  discussed 
i  i  the  chapter  on  physical  education.  We  wish  here  simply  to 
point  to  the  fact  that  this  department  is  automatically  disposed 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  medical  science  as  the  basis  of  all  of 
its  work.  In  this  obedience  to  science  as  the  basis  of  its  labors 
i^  sets  a  good  example  to  the  other  departments  of  the  educa- 
tional organization.  It  is  not  true  that  science  ought  to  rule 
here  in  larger  measure  than  in  other  departments.  It  ought  to 
rule  equally  throughout  all  the  work. 


190 CHAPTER  X. 

Chapter  X. 

THE  STUDENT  POPULATION. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  ascertain  the  effectiveness  of  the 
schools,  public,  private,  and  parochial,  in  reaching  all  the  chil- 
dren in  San  Antonio.  The  task  is  the  elaborate  one  that  con- 
fronts the  census-attendance  department,  now  that  the  legisla- 
ture has  passed  a  compulsory  education  law, 

The  School  Census. 

t 

The  nature  of  the  school  census  will  depend  upon  the  pur- 
poses that  it  is  to  serve.  Hitherto,  in  San  Antonio,  about  the 
only  purpose  of  the  annual  enumeration  has  been  the  apportion- 
ment of  the  state  school  fund.  For  this  purpose  the  only  in- 
formation really  needed  was  the  number  of  students  between 
the  ages  of  seven  and  seventeen.  Certain  other  facts  have  been 
obtained  and  tabulated,  as  for  example:  race,  nationality  of 
children,  and  distribution  by  wards,  etc.  These  additional  facts 
have  been  little  used,  however. 

So  long  as  there  has  been  no  compulsory  education  law 
there  has  been  little  reason  for  collecting  other  facts  beyond 
the  mere  enumeration  of  children.  With  the  passage  of  the 
present  compulsory  school  law,  however,  there  arise  other 
purposes  for  taking  and  keeping  the  school  census.  These  new 
purposes  will  demand  other  facts  not  hitherto  necessary.  More- 
over, there  will  be  a  need  of  greater  accuracy  than  that  found 
in  the  usual  school  enumeration;  and  it  will  need  to  be  a  con- 
tinuous twelve  months  accounting  of  the  children,  instead  of 
merely  a  one  month  affair.  The  attendance  department  will 
need  records  to  show  where  all  the  children  of  the  compulsory 
school  ages  are  to  be  found  in  any  week  of  the  year ;  records  that 
will  show  for  each  pupil  in  what  public,  private  or  parochial 
school  he  is  to  be  found ;  or  if  of  compulsory  school  age  and  not 
in  school  records  to  show  why  he  is  not  in  school. 


THE  STUDENT  POPULATION 191 

More  than  in  the  past  the  school-city  will  have  to  adjust 
the  size  of  buildings  and  the  number  of  sittings  to  the  total 
school  census  population.  They  will  need  to  know  with  accuracy 
the  number  of  children  in  the -district  served  by  each  school; 
and  the  number  of  children  of  the  district  that  can  be  counted 
upon  as  a  rule  to  attend  private  or  parochial  schools.  As  the 
population  shifts  and  changes  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  this 
continuous  school  census  registration  will  permit  the  board  to 
know  beforehand  how  many  rooms  and  *  seats  will  be  needed 
for  the  work  of  any  term. 

The  course  of  study,  we  are  coming  to  see  quite  clearly, 
should  be  different  for  different  races  and  classes  of  people, 
for  reasons  discussed  in  previous  portions  of  this  report.  The 
census  should  show  the  nationality  and  occupational  status  of 
the  people  of  each  school  district.  Districts  largely  Mexican  will 
need  a  curriculum  that  is  in  many  respects  different  from  that 
used  by  schools  attended  by  children  that  are  chiefly  of  Ameri- 
can or  German  parentage,  and  vica  versa.  Different  treatment 
should  also  be  accorded  to  children  of  abnormal  type, — the 
cripples,  the  tubercular,  the  mentally  subnormal,  etc.  The  census 
should  show  the  numbers  and  the  location  of  all  of  these  abnor- 
mal and  subnormal  children. 

On  the  census  chart  no  facts  should  be  gathered  except 
those  for  which  there  is  seen  to  be  a  useful  purpose. 

San  Antonio  is  already  gathering  for  that  portion  of  the 
children  now  in  the  public  schools  about  the  proper  assortment 
of  facts ;  and  is  already  using  the  greater  part  of  such  a  perma- 
nent and  continuous  registration  of  school  children  as  is  needed 
by  the  census  attendance  department.  The  work  now  done 
simply  needs  to  be  built  out  so  as  to  serve  all  of 'the  different 
purposes.  On  the  present  card  Form  B,  Application  for  Admis- 
sion to  School,  are  now  obtained  and  on  Forms  D  and  E  are  now 
recorded  the  following^facts: 

(1)  Name  of  child   (surname  first). 

(2)  Sex  of  child. 

(3)  Certified  date  of  birth. 

(4)  Age  in  years  and  months. 


192 CHAPTER  X. 

(5)  Place  of  birth. 

(6)  Name  of  parent  or  guardian. 

(7)  Occupation  of  parent  or  guardian. 

(8)  Residence,  street  and  number. 

(9)  School  that  he  is  attending. 

(10)  Grade  in  school. 

(11)  Physical  condition. 

(12)  Vaccination   record. 

On  the  census  attendance  record  chart  should  be  recorded 
the  above  facts  and  only  about  four  others : 

(13)  Race  or  nationality. 

(14)  Mental  condition,  when  other  than  normal. 

(15)  Reason,  if  not  attending  school. 

(16)  If  employed,  where  and  at  what  labor. 

While  such  a  list  of  facts  is  quite  an  extension  of  the  num-. 
ber  hitherto  obtained  on  the  census  blanks,  the  purposes  of 
obtaining  them  are  now  more  numerous.  It  must  be  remembered 
further  that  for  the  12,000  children  now  in  the  public  schools 
these  facts  have  already  been  gathered,  excepting  only  the  last 
four.  The  work  already  done  should  not  be  duplicated.  For 
those  12,000  children  the  first  census  under  the  new  law  should 
simply  be  for  the  purpose  of  checking  them  up  to  see  that  they 
are  accurate.  Original  records  need  to  be  obtained  only  from 
those  children  between  seven  and  sixteen  who  are  not  in  the 
public  schools.  For  those  beyond  the  compulsory  school  age 
but  within  the  census  age  used  for  state  apportionment,  little 
is  actually  needed  beyond  the  enumeration. 

When  this  work  is  done  the  census  attendance  office  will 
have  as  the  basis  of  its  accounting  of  the  school  children  a  card 
record  of  every  child  of  compulsory  school  age  in  the  city.  The 
card  lists  should  be  classified  by  schools, — one  set  for  each 
public,  private  and  parochial  school  in  the  city;  and  one  for 
children  not  in  any  school.  The  permanent  and  continuous 
census  will  then  present  a  record  for  each  school  that  will  be 
an  exact  duplicate,  so  far  as  the  list  of  facts  extend,  of  the 
principal's  office  record  cards, —  the  face  side  of  the  white  cards 
Form  E  as  revised.  When  a  pupil  is  transferred  from  one  school 


THE  STUDENT  POPULATION       '_ 193 

to  another,  when  he  leaves  for  a  private  school,  leaves  school 
to  go  to  work,  or  leaves  for  other  purpose,  notification  will  be 
sent  in  to  the  census  attendance  offices  and  this  particular  pupil's 
card  can  be  removed  from  the  office  file  of  the  school  where 
it  has  hitherto  been.  When  the  report  reaches  the  office  of  the 
pupil's  enrollment  in  the  school  to  which  he  goes  the  cards  can 
then  be  re-filed  in  the  proper  place.  Thus  if  the  pupil  does 
not  report  to  the  school  to  which  he  claims  to  be  transferred  the 
fact  automatically  registers  itself  in  the  office  of  the  attendance 
offices.  He  can  thus  know  exactly  and  at  all  times  just  where 
his  efforts  are  needed  for  those  already  enrolled.  The  plan 
here  recommended  is  simply  an  extension  to  the  central  office 
of  the  plan  which  is  already  in  operation  within  the  school  be- 
tween the  classrooms  and  the  principal's  office.  It  is  thus  pos- 
sible to  keep  an  accurate  up-to-date  record  of  the  children  of 
the  whole  city  that  is  to  the  entire  city  just  what  the  principal's 
record  is  to  his  entire  school. 

Private  and  parochial  schools  need  to  be  furnished  with 
the  necessary  duplicate  record  cards  so  that  their  records  may 
at  all  times  exactly  parallel  those  of  the  permanent  census  at- 
tendance records. 

This  record  will  be  indispensable  for  the  issuance  of  work 
certificates  to  those  who  have  graduated  from  the  elementary 
schools,  are  fourteen  years  of  age  or  over,or  who  are  otherwise 
exempted  for  this  purpose  from  the  action  of  the  compulsory 
school  law.- 

The  continuous  accounting  of  the  school  children  herein 
recommended  does  away  with  the  necessity  of  making  an  en- 
tirely new  record  of  the  children -in  the  census  enumeration  of 
each  year.  For  the  present,  however,  it  appears  from  the  terms 
of  the  city  charter  and  of  the  state  school  law  there  must  be 
a  complete  census  each  year.  This  can  be  used  for  the  purpose 
of  checking  up  the  continuous  census  and  for  correcting  it  by 
adding  the  names  of  all  children  found  of  compulsory  school 
age  who*  have  not  hitherto  been  registered,  and  for  dropping  off 
the  list  all  who  have  left  the  city  or  who  have  attained  an  age 
beyond  the  upper  limit  of  the  compulsory  school  age. 


194 CHAPTER  X. 

Between  these  annual  corrections  of  the  census  list  the  city 
will  find  at  first  a  large  and  in  part  insoluble  problem  connected 
with  keeping  the  list  accurate.  Families  moving  into  the  city 
having  childern  of  school  age  may  not  report,  and  they  may 
easily  not  be  discovered.  Children  coming  of  school  age  during 
the  year  may  not  be  discovered  until  months  afterwards.  Fami- 
lies may  move  without  any  notice  of  destination,  and  children 
may  be  lost  from  the  records. 

Naturally  the  officer  in  charge  of  attendance  will  keep  a 
lookout  for  all  such  unregistered  children.  He  has  no  machinery 
however,  short  of  a  new  complete  census  that  will  gather  in  all 
of  these  unregistered  children.  There  is  need  of  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  teachers,  principals,  supervisory  officers,  city 
police,  owners  of  licensed  moving  and  express  wagons,  etc. 
Until  parents  can  be  compelled  under  penalty  to  keep  the  author- 
ties  informed  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  all  children  of  school  ages 
a  continuous  census  record  can  be  kept  moderately  accurate 
only  with  a  very  considerable  amount  of  labor. 

Retardation. 

In  certain  schools,  owing  to  the  influx  of  non-English 
speaking  Mexican  children,  the  number  of  retarded  and  over-age 
children  is  very  large.  For  some  time  the  city  has  been  employ- 
ing for  certain  schools  a  special  teacher  to  take  care  of  the 
ii -dividual  needs  of  specially  retarded  children.  In  this  respect, 
San  Antonio  has  been  following  the  best  practice  of  the  country. 
The  new  plan  of  employing  the  regular  grade  teachers  for  an 
extra  hour  per  day  for  the  work  has  much  to  be  said  in  its 
favor. 

One  of  the  practical  questions  that  arises  is,  What  are  the 
buildings  in  serious  need  of  this  work ;  and  what  are  the  ones 
that  have  little  need  of  it.  Table  VII  shows  the  percent  of  chil- 
dren over-age  and  under-age,  rapid  and  slow,  in  each  of  the 
buildings. 


THE  STUDENT  POPULATION  195 

Table  VII. 
Age-Progress  Situation  in  the  Schools  of  San  Antonio. 

Percent  Percent 

Young    Normal         Old          Rapid      Normal        Slow 


Svstem                    5.3  44.2  50.5  13.8  40.6  45.6 

Avenue  E  ...                   14.0  50.0  36.0  49.1  21.9  28.9 

Eleanor  Brackenridge 16.2  61.8  22.0  24.3  45.6  30.1 

Riverside  Park  8.5  62.7  28.8  22.7  50.0  27.3 

Crockett                   8.8  53.1  38.0  30.7  40.6 

Travis                                10.3  60.6  29.1  21.4  41.3  37.3 

Highland  Park  10.3  52.1  37.6  23.4  38.3  38.3 

Bonham    8.7  65.6  25.7  12.9  46.8  40.2 

Fannin   6.5  58.9  34.5  13.3  53.0  33.7 

Roberts-Beacon  Hill  5.5  61.4  33.1  11.3  52.6  35.8 

Burnet                                 9.4  51.4  39.1  18.2  40.3  41.5 

Collins   Gardens   .          ..  3.4  42.6  54.1  33.8  29.7  36.5 

Manril                          5.0  45.1  49.9  24.3  39.6  36.1 

De  Zavala 5.3  50.4  44.3  17.0  46.3  36.7 

Smith                     4.7  55.3  40.0  14.7  43.5  41.8 

Ruiz                                   2.9  59.6  37.5  7.7      54.8  37.5 

Harris                     -- 5.2  48.4  46.3  11.8      44.3  43.9 

Herff                              -  7.5  53.0  39.6  7.2  44.1  48.6 

Bowie                         2.1  39.1  58.8  24.4      30.4  45.2 

Austin                              -  6.9  46.3  46.8  4.8       52.0  43.2 

Lamar.              8.6  42.9  48.4  11.7      33.2  55.2 

Johnson  ..         1.9  31.1  66.9  17.4      33.3  49.2 

Milam  4.8  43.2      52.1  8.9      31.1  60.0 

Briscoe   2.0  39.6      58.4  7.2      37.0  55.8 

Houston   0  24.2      75.8  2.9      42.3  54.8 

Brackenridge  Memorial      .4  21.1       78.6  3.2      36.6  60.2 

Gonzales  1.6      22.4      76.0  1.6      31.2  67.2 

Navarro   .                             .3       19.5       80.2  2.3       31.7  66.0 


196 CHAPTER  X. 

Table  VIII  shows  the  excess  or  deficit  in  the  progress  of  the 
pupils  as  compared  with  the  average  of  the  city.  The  buildings 
are  arranged  in  the  order  of  rank,  those  in  which  the  progress 
is  greatest  being  at  the  top.  The  last  column  shows  the  relative 
excess  or  deficit  of  progress  as  related  to  the  average  for  the 
city. 


THE  STUDENT  POPULATION  197 


Table  VIII. 

Relative  Standing  of  the  Twenty-Seven  Elementary  Schools  in 
the  Progress  of  the  Pupils  Through  the  Grades 

Excess  or  deficit  of  percent 
Young        Old         Rapid 

Coeffici- 
ent of 
Slow    Stand'* 

Avenue  E    

8.7 

14.5 
28.5 
21.7 
12.5 
21.4 
12.9 
24.8 
16.0 
17.4 
11.4 
-3.6 
.6 
6.2 
10.5 
13.0 
4.2 
10.9 
-8.3 
3.7 
2.3 
-16.4 
-1.6 
-7.9 
-25.3 
-28.1 
-25.5 
-29.7 

35.3 
10.5 
8.9 
16.9 
7.6 
9.6 
-.9 
-.5 
-2.5 
4.4 
20.0 
10.5 
3.2 
.9 
-6.1 
-2.0 
-6.6 
10.6 
-9.0 
-2.1 
3.6 
-4.9 
-6.6 
-10.9 
-11.6 
-12.2 
-11.5 

16.7 

15.5 
18.3 
16.9 
8.3 
7.3 
5.4 
11.9 
9.8 
4.1 
9.1 
9.5 
8.9 
3.8 
8.1 
1.7 
-3.0 
.4 
2.4 
-9.6 
-3.6 
-14.4 
-10.2 
-9.2 
-14.6 
-21.6 
-20.4 

75.2 
65.4 
52.1 
49.8 
42.3 
34.8 
32.7 
28.6 
24.9 
24.0 
23.6 
20.3 
18.3 
146 
12.6 
3,8 
3.5 
•   -.5 
-1.3 
-6.1 
-19,8 
-21.4 
-28.0 
-50.7 
-59.2 
-63.0 
-666 

Eleanor  Brackenridge  
Riverside    Park   

10.9 
3.2 

Crockett 

3.5 

Travis    

5.0 

Highland    Park 

5.0 

Bonham  

3.4 

Fannin 

1.2 
2 

Roberts  —  Beacon  Hill 

Burnet          

4.1 

Collins  Gardens 

-1.9 

Margil    

-.3 

De  Zavala 

.0 

Smith 

-.6 

Ruiz 

-2.4 

Harris 

•    -.1 

Herff   

22 

Bowie 

-3.2 

Austin    

1.6 

L,amar 

3.3 

Johnson   

-3.4 

Milani 

-.5 

Briscoe 

-3.3 

Houston     

-5.3 

Brackenridge  Memorial  
Oonzales 

-4.9 
-3.7 

Navarro  

-5.0 

Deficit  indicated  by  minus  sign;  excess,  without  sign. 


198  CHAPTER  X. 


Chart  X. 


J6 


///// 

£0 


-*c 


Shows  relative  standing  of  schools  in  the  matter  of  retardation. 


THE  STUDENT  POPULATION 199 

( )n  Chart  No.  10  is  shown  graphically  the  relative  position 
01  the  various  buildings  in  San  Antonio.  One  can  see  at  a  glance 
where  the  pupils  are  backward  in  progress ;  where  they  are 
moderately  forward;  and  where  they  are  highly  successful  as 
compared  with  the  usual  practice  of  the  city.  Clearly  it  is  at 
the  Navarro,  the  Gonzales,  the  Brackenridge  Memorial,  the 
Houston,  the  Briscoe,  the  Milam,  and  the  Johnson,  where  the 
heavy  work  with  retarded  children  is  most  needed.  Now  that  a 
compulsory  education  law  is  passed,  the  city  cannot  escape  car- 
ing for  these  retarded  children  who  are  within  the  prescribed 
ages.  The  economical  thing  to  do  fs  to  provide  means  for  push- 
ing them  through  the  grades  as  rapidly  as  possible  consistent 
with  proper  work. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  scale,  not  a  great  deal  of  such  work 
with  retarded  children  needs  to.  be  provided  at  the  Eleanor 
P>rackenridge,  the  Riverside  Park,  the  Crockett,  Travis,  Highland 
Park,  Bonham,  Fannin,  Beacon  Hill,  etc.  Since  there  are  re- 
tarded children  at  each  of  these  schools,  there  should  be  some 
provision  for  their  needs,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  children  and 
for  the  sake  of  economy.  The  quantity  of  the  provision  should 
be  adjusted  to  the  quantity  of  the  needs.  In  these  schools  less 
is  needed. 

In  taking  care  of  this  matter,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
the  needs  and  standards  of  attainment  are  somewhat,  or  even 
considerably,  different  in  different  schools.  The  curriculum 
should  therefore  be  adjusted  to  needs  as  a  part  of  this  work  of 
accelerating  the  progress  of  the  retarded  children.  Even  in  the 
same  school,  not  the  same  standards  of  attainment  should  be 
set  up  for  all  the  pupils. 

Present  Grade  Distribution  of  Pupils. 

The  number  of  pupils  on  the  class  registers  for  November, 
1914,  by  grades,  is  shown  in  Table  IX. 


200 CHAPTER  X. 

Table  IX. 
Present  Grade  Distribution  of  Pupils. 

Grade  Number  of  Pupils 

High   Eleventh  77 

Low  Eleventh 60 

High  Tenth  _...  121 

Low  Tenth  1 50 

High  Ninth  145 

Low  Ninth  \ 21 1 

High  Eighth  '. 289 

Low   Eighth   .'. 377 

H  igh  Seventh , 27& 

Low  Seventh 398 

High  Sixth  429 

Lo w  S  ixth 5  54 

High   Fifth   : 572 

Low  Fifth  787 

High  Fourth 629 

Low    Fourth   858 

High  Third  779 

"Low  Third  1040 

High  Second  926 

Low  Second  ~ _ „...  1 132 

High  First 1 192 

Low   First  2499 

The  table  shows  clearly  that  two  things  are  needed,  both  of 
which  are  being  provided  at  the  present  time.  One  is  care  for 
the  retarded  children  to  relieve  the  congestion  in  the  lower  grades. 
The  other  is  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  education  law 
so  as  to  prevent  the  pupils  of  the  later  elementary  grades  drop- 
ping out  before  their  education  is  completed. 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 201 

Chapter  XL 

ELEMENTARY   TEACHERS. 

The  elementary  teachers  of  San  Antonio  are  much  under- 
trained.  They  have  had  on  an  average  only  4.6  years  of  train- 
ing beyond  the  elementary  school.  This  is  about  a  half  year  of 
normal  training  beyond  a  four  years  high  school  course.  This 
is  a  full  year  of  normal  training  less  than  the  average  practice 
of  cities  •  of  the  size  and  importance  of  San  Antonio.  Proper 
comparative  data  for  cities  of  this  class  are  not  at  hand  at 
present.  But  Table  X  shows  the  average  amount  of  training  in 
twenty-two  smaller  cities  (except  Chicago)  from  which  we  have 
the  facts. 


202 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Table  X. 
Training  of  Elementary  Teachers. 


Citp 


Population 
in  1910 


Years  of 
Training 


Gary    17,000  7.0 

Norfolk,  Neb 6,000  6.5 

Morgan  Park 4,000  6.3 

Winnetka   3,000  6  0 

Booneville   4,000  5.8 

Chicago  2,185,000  5.8 

Oak  Park  19,000  5.6 

Russell   I..  2,000  5.6 

East  Chicago  19,000  5.5 

Norfolk 6,000  5.5 

Aurora   30,000  5.4 

Leavenworth   19,000  5.4 

Mishawaka  12,000  5.2 

Noblesville  5,000  4.9 

Rockford   45,000  4.9 

joliet   35,000  4.8 

South  Bend  53,000  4.8 

Harvey   7,000  4.7 

SAN  ANTONIO 96,000  4.6 

Mt.  Carroll 2,000  4.4 

Granite  City 10,000  4.3 

Junction  City 5,000  4.1 

Mt.  Olive 4,000  3.3 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 203 

That  the  teachers  of  San  Antonio  are  interiorly  trained  is 
not  a  necessity.  A  later  table  shows  that  the  salary  standard 
is  high  enough  to  attract  teachers  who  have  h#d  an  average 
length  of  training.  Simply  the  city  has  not  set  up  entrance 
standards  that  are  high  enough.  Graduates  of  the  high  school 
of  the  city  are  permitted  to  enter  upon  teaching  practically  with- 
out training. 

The  amount  of  training  is  quite  different  for  the  teachers 
of  different  buildings.  In  the  Collin's  Gardens  School,  the  aver- 
age training  beyond  the  elementary  school  is  6.7  years,  which 
is  almost  as  high  as  that  of  the  highest  city  in  Table  X.  In  the 
Highland  Park  School  the  training  is  5.2  years  beyond  the 
elementary,  which  means  an  average  of  a  full  year  and  a  quarter 
of  normal  school  training.  The  city  might  well  use  the  same 
method  of  getting  teachers  for  all  the  schools  that  has  been  used 
in  the  case  of  these. 

The  schools  where  attention  to  getting  better  trained  teachers 
is  shown  in  Table  XI. 


204 m CHAPTER  XL 

Table  XI. 
Amount  of  Training  of  San  Antonio  Teachers,  1914-1915. 

School  Years  of  Training. 

Collins  Gardens  6.7 

Highland   Park , 

Houston  - 5.2 

Harris   _ 5.0 

Ruiz  5.0 

Bonham  : 5.0 

De  Za vala ' 5 .0 

B r i scoe  4.8 

Avenue  K  4.7 

Burnet  * 4.7 

Milam _ 4.7 

Crockett    _ - _ 4.7 

Austin   4.7 

Gonzales   4.6 

Travis 4.6 

Eleanor   Brackenridge   „ ,: 4.4 

Fannin  4.4 

Roberts-Beacon  Hill 4.3 

Navarro  ..... _ 4.2 

R  i  ver  side  Park 4.2 

Brackenridge  Memprial  4.1 

Johnson  4.1 

Bowie  4.0 

Smith  _ 9  4.0 

Margil   = „ 4.0 

Lamar   _ 4.0 

Herff  37 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 205 

EXPERIENCE  OF  TEACHERS. 

The  city  has  a  moderately  young  body  of  teachers.     They 
,  average  7.5  years  of  teaching  experience, — total  experience  was 
counted.     Relative  standing  as  compared  with  these  other  cities 
is  shown  in  Table  XII. 

Table  XII. 
Length  of  Experience  of  Elementary  Teachers  in  27  Cities. 

Years  of  Years  of 

City  Experience.         City  Experience. 

Chicago   13.7         Greensburg,  Ind 13.0 

Morgan  Park  12.5         Rockford 1 10.9 

Winnetka  10.8         Oak   Park  10.7 

Booneville,  Mo 10.3 

Junction  City  10.1         Joliet 9.9 

Russell,  Kan 9.9        Mishawaka   9.7 

De  Kalb  9.5         Aurora  9.3 

Leavenworth,  Kan 9.2 

Mt.  Carroll  ..  8.4         Gary,  Ind 8.2 

Harvey 8.0        Mt.  Olive  ,. 7.6 

SAN  ANTONIO 7.5         Norfolk,  Neb ., 7.0 

East  Chicago  6.9 

Granite  City 6.9        South  Bend  6.7 

Noblesville,  Ind 6.2        Whiting  -  5.8 

Maple  Lake,  Minn 5.2         Bonner  Springs,  Kan _.  3.7 


206 CHAPTER  XL 

TENURE  OF  TEACHERS. 

While  legally  teachers  are  employed  for  yearly  terms,  actu- 
ally their  tenure  is  permanent.  None  are  dropped  from  the  rolls 
unless  guilty  of  gross  misconduct  or  inefficiency.  In  this  respect 
the  teachers  of  the  city  are  altogether  favorably  situated;  in 
fact  too  much  so. 

Notwithstanding  this  permanence  of  tenure,  the  teachers 
do  not  remain  long  in  the  service*  in  San  Antonio.  Table  XIII 
shows  an  average  tenure  of  only  3.5  years.  This  is  very  low  in- 
deed. I  lack  the  information  that  will  account  for  it. 

Table  XIII. 
Average  Tenure  of  Elementary  Teachers. 

Years  taught  Years  taught 

City  in  City.         City  in  City. 


Chicago   .  .....11.1         Aurora  9.1 

Rockford 9.1         Joliet   8.7 

Leavenworth,  Kan 8.0        Greensburg,  Ind 7.6 

Morgan  Park  7.0         Mishawaka 6.6 

Mt.  Olive 6.6        Russell,  Kan 6.5 

Winnetka  6.4        Mt.  Carroll  6.2- 

Junction  City,  Kan 5.8 

Noblesville,   Ind 5.5         Booneville,  Mo 5.4 

Oak  Park  5.2        De  Kalb   5.2 

Harvey 5.8         Granite  City  '. 4.2 

South  Bend  4.0         East  Chicago  4.0 

SAN  ANTONIO  3.5         Bonner  Springs,  Kan 2.4 

Norfolk,  Neb „ 2.0         Maple  Lake,  Minn 1.4 

The  brevity  of  tenure  appears  not  to  be  due  to  the  salary 
situation.  Salaries  are  about  on  a  level  with  average  practice 
in  cities  of  the  country  of  the  same  population  class  as  San  An- 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 


207 


tonio.  Table  XIV  shows  that  salaries  in  San  Antonio  are  sligthly 
in  advance  of  those  in  Dallas,  and  very  much  above  those  of 
Houston. 

Table  XIV. 
Salaries  of  Elementary  Teachers. 


Denver 

$960 

San  Diego 

$935 

Salt  Lake  City  
Grand  Rapids  

830 
800 

Youngstown    
Lowell  

800 
800 

Des  Moines 

800 

Nashville 

..  780 

Albany 

750 

Covington 

750 

Duluth 

750 

Evansville 

750 

Cambridge   

750 

Lawrence 

750 

SAN  ANTONIO 

720 

Dallas 

704 

Dayton 

700 

Utica 

700 

Fall  River  

700 

Canton     

700 

Kansas  City,  Kan. 

684 

Trenton 

680 

Savannah 

675 

Trov 

650 

-  iyjj 

Houston 

630 

Schenectady 

600 

Saginaw 

600 

Richmond 

595 

Charleston 

572 

Manchester 

..    .    550 

South  Bend 

540 

Reading 

.  510 

THE  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 

All  the  discussions  of  this  report  indicate  the  desirability 
ol  having  teachers  who  are  intimately  acquainted  with  the  city. 
Naturally  it  is  those  who  grow  up  in  San  Antonio  who  ought 
best  to  know  the  city.  Training  and  supervision  being  equally 
efficient,  the  so-called  home-teacher  is  preferable  to  the  transient 
teacher  who  comes  usually  with  no  intention  of  making  the  city 
her  home,  nor  of  allying  her  permanent  interests  with  those  of 
the  city.  Under  such  circumstances  her  work  tends  naturally  to 
be  abstract  and  unrelated  to  the  needs  of  the  district  of  the  city 
to  which  she  is  employed  to  minister.  With  a  tenure  in  the  city 


208  CHAPTER  XL 

of  only  three  and  a  half  years,  it  would  take  a  good  part  of  this 
time  to  get  acquainted ;  so  she  neglects  to  do  so  usually,  satisfied 
with  a  world  of  her  own  apart  from  the  community  world  in 
which  live  the  children  committed  to  her  charge. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  authorities  tend  to  be  far  more  leni- 
ent in  setting  up  and  holding  to  standards  of  preparation  for 
the  "home-teachers"  before  letting  them  into  the  service;  and 
also  under  usual  conditions  superintendent  and  principals  are 
less  free  to  enforce  high  standards  of  work  on  the  part  of  the 
"home-teachers."  Influential  members  of  the  community  are 
often  more  interested  in  the  personal  wishes — we  cannot  say  wel- 
fare— of  their  friends  than  they  are  in  the  welfare  of  the  schools. 

San  Antonio  is  clearly  suffering  from  both  of  these  evils. 
The  so-called  "Training  class"  which  supposedly  trains  the 
graduates  of  the  local  high  school  for  the  grade  positions  is 
scarcely  a  class  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term.  It  has  no  study- 
place,  no  regular  teachers,  no  textbooks,  no  assigned  library 
reading.  It  is  simply  a  loose  apprenticeship  system,  in  which 
the  teachers-in-training  pick  up  what  information  they  can 
through  observing  and  helping  in  the  class-rooms  for  a  half 
year.  They  come  with  no  previous  professional  study  whatever. 
They  cannot  observe  intelligently  since  they  do  not  know  what 
t^  look  for  nor  how  to  judge  what  they  see.  They  can  learn 
how  to  do  things  rule-of-thumb.  The  plan  offers  nothing  more. 
Such  a  system  of  inducting  unprofessionally  taught  high  school 
students  into  the  elementary  schools  accounts  for  much  of  the 
mechanization  of  the  work  observed.  The  mechanical  aspects 
they  can  see  and  imitate.  The  reasons  for  it  all,  the  possibilities 
of  adjustments  to  meet  the  needs  of  different  types  of  pupils, 
they  cannot  see. 

The  thing  needed  is  clear.  As  the  city  develops  strong 
vocational  courses  in  the  high  school  for  merchants,  clerical 
workers,  household  workers,  mechanics,  laundresses,  manicurists, 
etc.,  it  would  be  advisable  that  they  also  draw  up  a  parallel  high 
school  course  for  those  who  are  to  be  teachers;  and  to  accept 
no  graduate  from  the  high  school  as  a  teacher  who  has  not  taken 
that  course. 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 209 

The  general  high  school  work  for  these  students  could  be 
condensed  into  a  three-years'  course,  and  the  fourth  year  given 
wholly  to  professional  studies.  When  they  entered  then  upon 
their  half  year  of  observation  they  could  have  something  to  look 
for,  some  power  of  judging  what  they  should  see,  and  some 
power  to  profit  by  what  they  see.  This  half  year  of  observation 
and  class-room  assistance  should  be  under  the  joint  direction 
of  the  teacher  of  the  subject  in  the  high  school  and  the  building 
principals  of  the  buildings  where  they  are  sent.  Though  scattered 
among  buildings  while  observing,  they .  should  still  remain  a 
class  for  periodic  meeting  at  the  high  school  for  discussions  and 
conferences. 

The  instructor  in  the  high  school  should  be  in  ability  and 
training  about  the  fourth  man  in  the  system  from  the  top.  He 
ought  to  be  the  second  assistant-superintendent  having  special 
supervisory  charge  of  the  first-year  teachers.  With  this  arrange- 
ment each  teacher  entering  from  the  San  Antonio  high  school 
would  have  had  two  and  one-half,  years  of  systematic  training 
but  without  taking  any  more  years  for  it  than  under  present 
plans  ;  one  year  in  the  high  school  ;  one-half  year  observation 
and  practice- teach  ing,  and  one  year  probationary  teaching  under 
the  supervision  of  the  man  responsible  for  her  continuing  train- 
ing. 

* 

APPOINTMENT  OF  OUTSIDE  TEACHERS. 

It  was  observed  that  even  in  the  case  of  teachers  employed 
from  outside  the  system,  there  is  the  problem  of  holding  to 
sufficiently  high  standards.  These  outside  teachers  are  so  often 
induced  to  come  to  the  city  by  friends  living  in  the  city  who 
have  influence  with  the  authorities.  The  remedy  is  pointed  out 
in  Chapter  IX,  of  this  report.  The  city  should  make  definite 
decision  as  to  the  minimum  of  normal  school  training  that  will 
be  accepted;  then  place  upon  the  superintendent  all  responsibility 
for  decision  as  to  whether  this  minimum  has  been  reached  in  the 
case  of  any  applicant ;  and  all  responsibility  for  judgment  as  to 
attainments.  Since  the  superintendent  is  to  be  held  responsible 


210  CHAPTER  XL 

for  the  work  of  the  teachers,  responsibility  for  initiative  in  ap- 
pointment and  for  recommendation  should  be  definitely  placed 
upon  him. 

SUBSTITUTE  TEACHERS. 

It  is  much  more  difficult  to  go  day  after  day  into  unfamiliar 
rooms  to  teach  strange  classes  than  it  is  to  teach  a  regular  class. 
It  seems  strange  therefore  that  this  most  difficult  type  of  work 
— most  difficult  of  all  if  it  is  well  done — should  be  given  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  are  confessedly  the  least  trained,  the 
least  experienced,  and  the  least  qualified  teachers  in  the  system ; 
namely,  the  apprentices  just  entering  the  service. 

Two  things  can  be  said  with  absolute  confidence: 

1.  Substitute  teachers  should  be  strong  experienced  teach- 
ers.   A  certain  number  of  such  teachers,  based  upon  the  number 
of  calls  daily  received  should  be  assigned  to  this  service.     This 
number  can  be  chosen  so  as  to  have  them  employed  in  substitute 
work  most  of  the  days.    On  the  occasional  days  not  called  for, 
they  can  be  required  to  do  special  individual  work  with  retarded 
children  at  those  buildings  that  are  specially  in  need  of  it.    It  is 
generally  possible  to  have  a  reserve  corps  of  capable  experienced 
substitute  teachers  made  up  of  former  teachers  in  the  service, 
married  or  unmarried,  who  yet  live  in  the  city  but  who  do  not 
wish  full  time  service. 

2.  Beginning  teachers  should  be  placed  so  that  their  first 
teaching  should  be  under  the  most  normal  and  regular  conditions 
possible.    In  the  beginning  especially  their  work  should  be  care- 
fully planned,  orderly  and  sequential.     They  should,  by  doing 
superior  work  from  the  first  day  of  their  service  become  hab- 
ituated to  doing  nothing  other  than  superior  work.     Above  all 
things  <  their  professional  conscience  should  be  fortified  against 
doing  careless,  unplanned,   slipshod,  purposeless   work.     They 
need  to  take  a  professional  pride  in  the  fact  that  they  began 
on  a  high  level  and  have  held  consistently  to  it. 

To  take  young  teachers  in  professional  need  of  such 
auspicious  and  favorable  beginnings  and  then  to  demoralize 
them  by  substitute  work  in  which  they  are  forced  into  daily 


ELEMENTARY  TEACHERS 21] 

tasks  that  are  of  necessity  for  them  unplanned,  time-marking, 
and  purposeless,  is  to  do  just  the  thing  that  of  all  things  should 
not  be  done.  To  call  it  professionally  criminal  against  both  the 
teachers  and  the  children  is  to  put  the  thing  sufficiently  mildly. 

TRAINING  TEACHERS  DURING  SERVICE. 

The  chief  training  during  service  occurs  in  connection  with 
the  monthly  Saturday  all-day  institute.  For  most  of  the  time 
the  teachers  are  receiving  instruction  from  the  supervisors  of 
special  subjects  from  the  grade-leaders,  who  are  principals 
assigned  to  special  supervision  of  regular  subjects.  From  in- 
quires it  appears  that  no  institute  occurred  during  my  visit — 
that  the  time  is  largely  devoted  to  detailing  the  course  of  study 
topics  in  each  subject  that  are  to  be  covered  during  the  succeed- 
ing month.  The  same  thing  is  given  to  all  teachers,  experienced 
and  inexperienced,  those  coming  from  American  schools  and 
those  from  immigrant  schools.  This  plan  of  work  takes  vital 
responsibility  for  thinking  off  individual  principals  and  teachers, 
and  tends  to  uniformatize  and  mechanize  the  work. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  each  principal  should  be  pretty  fully 
responsible  for  the  training  during  service  of  the  teachers  within 
his  building;  and  that  the  superintendent  should  be  just  as  fully 
responsible  for  training  his  principals  so  that  they  can  in  turn 
train  their  teachers  efficiently. 

Responsibility  for  thinking  should  be  taken  off  neither 
teachers  nor  principals.  The  training  of  teachers  in  service  by 
principals  and  the  training  of  principals  by  the  superintendent 
should  deal  chiefly  with  the  principles  of  educational  science 
which  are  to  be  used  by  all  concerned  in  guiding  the  details  of 
their  work.  The  present  methods  of  training  produce  mechanical 
rule-of-thumb  teachers.  In  an  age  of  science  it  would  appear 
that  that  profession  which  is  set  apart  to  teach  science  to  the 
world  in  general  should  use  it  themselves  as  the  guide  to  their 
labors.  We  cannot  here  go  into  details  of  the  plan.  A  superin- 
tendent and  principals  who  have  the  ability  to  do  the  work  will 
have  the  ability  to  plan  it. 


212 Chapter  XII. 

Chapter  XII. 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

The  main  aspects  of  work  of  the  high  school  have  been 
pretty  fully  discussed  in  the  various  chapters  of  this  report.  We 
wish  here  to  touch  only  upon  a  few  matters  that  have  not  been 
mentioned. 

The  city's  annual  investment  in  the  high  schools,  including 
interest  and  depreciation,  is  well  above  $80,000.  Men  in  a  busi- 
ness community  do  not  usually  invest  $80,000  a  year  without 
knowing  pretty  definitely  what  they  are  spending  the  money 
for.  They  must  know  this  before  they  can  give  their  approval. 
Presumably,  therefore,  the  people  of  San  Antonio  have  formu- 
lated in  their  own  minds  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  invest- 
ing so  large  a  sum  of  money. 

It  is  always  -interesting  to  know  what  the  public  values 
most  highly  in  the  high  school  work.  This  can  be  learned  by 
examining  'into  the  way  they  distribute  their  investment.  The 
things  in  which  they  invest  heavily  they  value  highly ;  to  the 
things  in  which  they  invest  but  moderately  they  ascribe  but  a 
moderate  value ;  and  to  the  things  of  little  investment  they  ascribe 
but  little  value.  Now,  in  what  things  is  San  Antonio  investing 
her  money,  and  how  is  the  money  distributed  ?  Our  interest  here 
is  not  financial ;  we  wish  merely  to  find  relative  community 
valuations  of  the  different  portions  of  the  high  school  work. 
Using  the  most  accurate  figures  available,  covering  instruction 
only  for  the  past  year,  it  appears  that  San  Antonio  is  distributing 
each  $1000  over  the  different  high  school  subjects  in  about  the 
proportions  shown  in  Table  A. 


Til  1C  HIGH  SCHOOL _____^ 213 

Table  A. 

The  portion  of  each  $1000  expended  for  instruction  in  each  of 
the  high  school  subjects. 


English   Composition   and   Literature  :. $  204 

Higher  Mathematics  170 

The  Sciences  , 131 

I  listory   and   Civics   106 

Modern   Languages 103 

Household  Occupations „. 97 

Shopwork  and  Mechanical  Drawing ,  63 

Commercial  Subjects  53 

Latin  , „ „ _  52 

Public  Speaking 19 

Music 4 

Physical  Training „ 0 

Drawing  and  Design  (not  mechanical)  0 


Total  $1000 

This  distribution  of  the  community  investment  over  the  high 
ifchool  subjects  raises  many  questions  which  a  community  ought 
to  answer  for  itself.  Why  should  literary  analysis  and  expression 
so  greatly  outrank  everything  else  in  value?  Why  is  it  worth 
twice  as  much  as  history  and  civics?  Why  fifty  per  cent  more 
than  science?  Why  is  an  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
literary  art  worth  fifty  times  as  much  as  an  understanding  and 
appreciation  of  musical  art?  This  ought  td  be  challenged  by 
the  musical  organizations  in  San  Antonio.  WThy  is  abstract 
higher  mathematics  of  a  type  that  is  used  by  very  few  considered 
of  much  more  value  than  anything  else,  except  English  ?  Why 
is  it  worth  twice  as  much  as  household  training,  and  three  times 
ac  much  as  shop  or  commercial  training?  Why  should  a  city's 
money  be  invested  so  heavily  in  mathematics  of  little  value  and 
not  at  all  in  physical  training,  a  matter  of  high  value?  Is  not 
music  really  worth  as  much  as  Latin?  Are  not  drawing  and 
design  as  valuable  as  Mediaeval  history? 


214        . CHAPTER  xii. 

It  is  not  for  an  outsider  to  suggest  answers  to  these  ques- 
tions. The  community,  however,  that  pays  the  bills  should  not 
rest  easy  Until  it  has  carefully  considered  whether  it  is  distribut- 
ing its  money  wisely  or  not. 

Another*  basis  for  judging  the  community  valuation  of  the 
different  studies  is  the  distribution  of  the  time  of  the  high  school 
students.  Presumably  these  students  are  distributing  their 
time  in  ways  approved  by  their  parents.  The  total  time  ex- 
penditure in  class  during  the  past  semester  was  431,956  student- 
hours,  a  student-hour  being  the  class-time  of  one  student  for  one 
actual  hour  of  sixty  minutes.  The  distribution  of  each  1,000 
student-hours  over  the  different  subjects  was  as  shown  in 
Table  B. 

Table  B. 

The  distribution  of  each  1,000  student-hours  over  the 
various  subjects. 

English  Literature  and  Composition 243  student-hours 

Algebra  and  Geometry _ 200  student-hours 

The  Sciences 1 54  student-hours 

History  and  Civics  102  student-hours 

Household  Occupations 92  student-hours 

Modern  Languages  73  student-hours 

Shop  work  and  Mechanical  Drawing  48  student-hours 

Latin  „ 40  student-hours 

Commercial  Subjects  41  student-hours 

Music   7  student-hours 

Drawing  and  Design  (not  mechanical)  0  student-hours 

Physical  Training .' 0  student-hours 

Training  of  Elementary  Teachers 0  student-hours 


Total ! 1,000  student-hours 

There  are  some  reasons  for  thinking  this  a  better  index  of 
community  valuations  than  the  investment-index.  It  represents 
what  the  community  actually  demands  in  terms  of  units  of  work. 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  ' 215 

If  not  this,  it  does  represent  what  the  community  actually  chooses 
or  at  least  accepts  for  its  children.  It  shows  that  the  balance 
of  student-time  expenditure  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  the 
financial  expenditure.  About  the  same  series  of  questions  again 
arise. 

How  economical  are  the  expenditures  for  the  various  sub- 
jects ?  Taking  cost  of  instruction  only,  the  cost  per  1000  student- 
hours  for  teaching  the  various  subjects  is  shown  in  Table  C. 

Table  C. 

Cost  per  1000  student-hours  of  instruction  in 
the  various  high  school  subjects. 


Modern   Languages   $114  per  1000  student-hours 

Latin  103  per  1000  student-hours 

Shopwork  and  Mechanical  Drawing  103  per  1000  student-hours 

Commercial  Subjects  103  per  1000  student-hours 

Public  Speaking 98  per  1000  student-hours 

History  and  Civics  83  per  1000  student-hours 

Household   Occupations   83  per  1000  student-hours 

Mathematics 69  per  1000  student-hours 

Sciences    68  per  1000  student-hours 

English  Literature  and  Composition  67  per  1000  student-hours 

Music    40  per  1000  student-hours 

The  city  is  paying  very  different  prices  for  the  same  amount 
of  work  in  different  subjects.  The  price  paid  for  modern  lan- 
guages is  70  percent  higher  than  the  price  paid  for  an  equal 
amount  of  English.  It  is  68  percent  higher  than  an  equal 
amount  of  science ;  65  percent  higher  than  mathematics ;  37  per- 
cent higher  than  household  occupations  or  history  and  civics ; 
considerably  higher  than  commercial  and  shop  subjects.  Is  this 
because  modern  languages  are  worth  so  much  more,  or  because 
of  maladjustments  in  the  work  of  the  high  schools?  It  is  dif- 
ficult enough  in  our  previous  discussions  to  grant  the  equality 
of  value  of  foreign  languages  for  most  students ;  it  certainly  is 
not  possible  to  grant  this  superiority  of  value. 


216 ; CHAPTER  XII. 

Latin  also  is  another  drain  on  the  community.  Why  should 
the  city  have  to  pay  over  50  percent  more  for  Latin  than  for 
English, 'science,  or  mathematks?  Why  pay  25  percent  more 
than  for  household  occupations  or  history  and  civics  ?  The  value 
of  the  Latin  is  actually  far  less  than  these  other  subjects.  Is 
there  mismanagement  in  the  high  school,  or  is  somebody  "putting 
something  over"  on  the  city? 

Is  the  burden  of  the  work  equitably  distributed  among  the 
teachers  of  the  different  departments?  To  answer  this  question 
we  must  note  the  length  of  the  teachers'  working  week,  and  the 
average  size  of  classes.  It  is  not  possible  at  present  to  measure 
that  portion  of -the  teacher's  working  week  that  is  spent  outside 
of  the  class-room.  We  have,  however,  the  number  of  hours  per 
week  assigned  to  regular  work  in  the  class-rooms.  Table  D 
shows  the  relative  burden. 

Table  D. 

Average  size  of  classes  and  average  number  of  weekly  teaching 
hours  (full  60  minutes)  for  each  full-time  teacher. 


.   v 

No.  Student- 
hrs.  per  week 
per  full-time 
teacher 

Average  No.  of 
Average    hrs.  taught  per 
Size  of      week  per  full- 
Class         time  teacher 

Music  

(823) 

38 
28 
27 
25 
24 
22 
19 
18 
17 
14 
15 
12 

(21.5) 
22.4 
23.4 
22.0 
20.8 
20.0 
21.5 
21.8 
20.7 
23.1 
20.8 
229 

English 

629 

Mathematics  

622 

Science  

543 

History  . 

489 

Public  Speaking:  ... 

440 

Latin  

402 

Commercial  Subjects 

386 

Modern  Languages  

343 

Mechanical  Drawing  

321 

Household  Occupations  
Shoo-work  .. 

316 

.  266 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 217 

The  classes  in  half  the  subjects  average  fewer  than  twenty 
students  per  class.  With  proper  accommodations  and  equipment, 
there  can  be  no  justification  for  this.  It  is  difficult  to  see  any 
reason  why  the  Latin  and  modern  language  classes  should 
run  smaller  than  science  classes.  If  the  language  classes  were 
so  increased,  more  than  two  full-time  teachers  could  be  dis- 
pensed with,  and  two  class-rooms  saved  for  other  uses.  This  one 
adjustment  would  save  the  city  $3,000  a  year.  Not  only  would 
two  rooms  be  saved,  but  enough  money  to  build  an  additional 
room  each  year.  When  the  high  schools  are  becoming  so  con- 
gested, the  thing  is  worth  considering.  With  classes  a  half-year 
apart  in  progress,  and  with  few  sections  on  each  level,  teachers 
will  generally  say  that  it  cannot  be  done ;  or  that  it  is  education- 
ally inadvisable  to  do  it.  The  contention  will  usually  mean  that 
it  is  easier  not  to  make  such  adjustments  than  to  make  them. 
To  let  things  drift  mechanically  requires  neither  thought  nor 
labor;  to  adjust  the  size  of  classes  to  the  demands  of  efficiency 
requires  both  thought  and  labor.  But  with  both  thought  and 
labor,desirable  adjustments  can  always  be  made.  In  certain 
subjects  on  certain  levels,  new  sections  will  begin  yearly,  not 
semi-yearly.  Where  small  classes  are  unavoidable,  as  will  oc- 
casionally occur,  they  can  meet  fewer  times  per  week  for  the 
same  amount  of  work ;  or  they  can  meet  for  shorter  periods  for 
the  same  amount  of  work.  The  unnecessary  foreign  language 
waste  can  be  saved  by  such  adjustments ;  and  the  community 
should  see  that  it  is  done. 

The  small  size  of  most  of  the  vocational  classes  has  been 
necessitated  by  the  size  of  the  rooms  supplied  them..  With  the 
completion  of  the  new  practical  arts  building,  the  defect  can  be 
remedied.  These  classes  ought  to  run  on  an  average  as  large 
as  twenty  students  per  class.  If  they  are  compelled  to  run 
smaller  because  of  a  lack  of  sufficient  equipment,  it  is  very 
false  economy.  The  cost  of  extra  teachers  is  in  the  end  far 
greater  than  the  cost  of  equipment  for  an  additional  five  students 
per  class. 


218  CHAPTER  XII. 

TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHERS— SUPERVISION. 

The  average  amount  of  training  of  high  school  teachers  in 
the  Main  Avenue  high  school  is  six  and  one-half  years  beyond 
the  elementary  schools.  This  is  a  year  and  a  half  short  of  a  full 
college  course,  which  is  coming  to  be  regarded  as  the  minimum 
desirable  training  of  high  school  teachers.  The  thing  desired 
of  course  is  teaching  efficiency ;  and  the  efficient  teacher  with 
no  higher  training  is  to  be  preferred  to  an  inefficient  college 
graduate.  But  all  things  else  being  equal,  a  teaching  corps  that 
averages  eight  years  of  training  beyond  the  elementary  school 
is  to  be  preferred  to  one  that  averages  six  and  one-half  years. 
How  San  Antonio  stands  as  compared  with  certain  cities  from 
which  I  happen  to  have  figures  is  shown  in  Table  E. 


Table  E. 
Training  of  High  School  Teachers. 

Years  beyond 
Elementary  School. 

Des  Moines  : 8.9  years 

Peo r i a 8.3  years 

Gary,  Ind 8.1  years 

Aurora,  111 8.1  years 

Indianapolis    8.0  years 

Rockford 8.0  years 

Elgin   7.5  years 

St.  Joseph  7.2  years 

Leavenworth  7.0-  years 

Oklahoma  City  7.0  years 

SAN  ANTONIO 6.5  years 

Kansas  City,  Kan _ 6.4  years 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 219 

Deficiency  in  the  usually  accepted  amount  of  collegiate 
training  should  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  effectiveness 
of  the  work  of  individual  teachers.  Where  the  work  of  a 
teacher  is  efficient,  the  work  is  not  demanding  further  training.  - 
Where  it  is  inefficient,  then  further  training  of  some  kind  is 
needed.  Sometimes  they  should  be  encouraged  or  even  required 
to  take  summer  courses,  or  take  a  leave  of  absence  for  further 
training.  More  often,  however,  for  experienced  teachers  long 
in  the  service,  the  thing  needed  is  supervisory  training.  The 
supervision  on  the  part  of  principal  and  head  of  department  that 
will  strengthen  the  weak  places  in  a  teacher's  work  is  the  best 
possible  training  for  that  teacher.  The  best  place  to  train  one 
to  do  efficient  work  is  where  that  work  is  being  performed.  The 
principal  has  a  large  opportunity,  and  bears  an  equally  large 
responsibility.  At  present  there  appears  to  be  very  little  super- 
vision of  the  work  of  the  high  school.  The  thing  most  needed 
is  not  more  training  of  the  teachers  but  a  larger  quantity  and 
a  more  intelligent  quality  of  supervision  by  the  principal  of  the 
high  school. 

Since  the  Junior  high  school  constitutes  the  first  semester 
or  two  of  the  total  four  years  high  school  course,  the  two  schools 
should  be  organic  parts  of  one  organization.  One  principal 
should  be  responsible  for  both  schools ;  though  a  vice-principal 
would  be  needed  at  the  Junior  school.  The  head  of  each  depart- 
ment should  be  responsible  for  the  work  of  his  department  in 
both  schools;  and  should  actively  supervise/ 

THE  LIBRARY. 

Attention  has  been  called  in  other  chapters  to  the  library 
needs.  At  present  the  Brackenridge  high  school  has  no  library 
worth  mentioning ;  and  the  Main  Avenue  very  little  indeed  except 
for  the  fairly  generous  supply  of  supplementary  literature  sets 
for  the  English  classes.  The  room  used  is  so  small  as  almost  to 
render  useless  the  small  amount  of  library  actually  possessed. 
The  room  seats  only  sixteen  students.  The  entire  study-room 
should  be  the  library  reading  room.  This  could  be  managed  with 


220  CHAPTER  XII. 

entire  ease  if  the  high  school  authorities  made  up  their  minds 
to  make  the  library  as  serviceable  as  possible. 

One  of  the  absurdities  was  to  find  the  library  closing  at 
two  o'clock  .in  the  afternoon.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  from  two 
to  four,  the  two  hours  just  following  the  close  of  the  daily  session, 
that  ought  to  be  the  busiest  hours  for  the  library.  With  the 
pupils  taught  how  to  study,  and  with  the  necessary  study  ma- 
terials supplied  by  the  library,  and  the  necessary  study-room, 
these  two  hours  of  use  ought  greatly  to  increase  the  effective- 
ness of  the  high  school  work  with  a  very  little  increase  of  the 
cost. 

The  high  school  libraries  should  not  be  made -the  deposito- 
ries of  old  and  worthless  books  given  by  well-intended  but 
mistaken  patrons.  The  choice  of  all  books  should  grow  naturally 
out  of  the  high  school  work ;  and  every  book  should  be  retired 
from  the  shelves  that  is  not  actively  used  in  furthering  the  work. 
Benevolence  should  be  encouraged  to  sell  its  obsolete  books  at 
the  second-hand  store  and  donate  only  new  and  modern  books 
demanded  by  the  school  work. 

HIGH  SCHOOL  BUILDING  ACCOMMODATIONS. 

The  Main  Avenue  high  school  is  running  full  capacity, 
it  is  claimed,  and  will  need  a  considerable  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  rooms  for  the  coming  year.  The  high  school  principal 
is  recommending*  that  a  large  neighboring  dwelling-house  be 
rented  for  the  purpose.  This  is  not  the  entirely  inevitable  solu- 
tion. The  high  school  buildings  "are  not  now  running  full  ca- 
pacity. The  daily  session  closes  at  2:05  P.  M.  Owing  to  the 
city's  being  so  far  west  of  the  meridian  of  central  time,  this  is 
as  early  as  1^30  P.  M.  in  St.  Louis,  or  1  :00  P.  M.  in  Columbus, 
Ohio.  The  high  school  session  closes  with  full  four  hours  of 
daylight  ahead  on  the  shortest  day  of  the  year.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  sessions  might  not  continue  for  an  additional 
two  periods,  or  until  3:35.  This  would  permit  an  additional 
60  classes  per  day  at  the  present  time;  and  an  additional  80 
classes  when  the  new  building  is  completed.  This  will  take  care 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 221 

of  an  increase  of  300  students.  Were  the  session  continued  until 
4 :20  P.  M. — and  there  is  no  reason  why  not, — then  the  buildings 
might  take  care  of  an  increase  of  400  students. 

In  extending  this  time  of  use  of  the  building,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  extend  the  teachers'  work-day.  As  judged  by 
usual  practice  throughout  the  country,  this  is  now  long  enough 
for  those  whose  class-work  requires  outside  labor.  Simply, 
certain  teachers  will  report  at  8:30  as  at  present,  and  finish 
their  periods  at  2:00  or  3:00  P.  M.  Others  will  not  report  until 
the  beginning  of  the  third  morning  period,  their  day  then  con- 
tinuing until  the  end  of  the  daily  session. 

<  )ther  teachers  whose  work  is  of  a  type  that  requires  little 
outside  preparation  of  materials  and  little  paper  work  can  be 
given  a  six  or  seven  hour  day  without  making  their  labors  any 
heavier  than  those  of  teachers  who  must  give  from  two  to  four 
hours  a  day  to  out-of-class  labors.  There  should  be  some  such 
equation  in  the  labors  of  the  different  departments. 

With  present  study-room  and  library  accommodations,  the 
plan  recommended  is  more  difficult  to  manage  in  the  matter  of 
handling  the  students  in  the  middle  of  the  day, — if  they  are 
expected  to  remain  at  the  building  as  many  hours  as  at  present. 
1;  is  possible  to  permit  many  students, — those  who  have  learned 
how  to  study — to  return  home  at  the  end  of  five  periods.  Those 
of  this  type  who  come  at  8 :30  may  well  leave  at  12 :30.  Those 
who  first  appear  at  12  :30  can  have  another  five  periods  before 
4  :30.  Such  a  plan  would  fit  in  well  with  the  needs  of  students 
who  desire  to  give  a  half  day  regularly,  morning  or  afternoon, 
to  remunerative  labor.  For  obvious  reasons  many  students 
would  have  to  be  at  the  school  six  or  seven  periods, — appearing 
early  and  leaving  early,  or  appearing  late  and  leaving  late.  In 
proportion  as  this  number  is  large,  fairly  large  study-room  ac- 
commodations would  be  necessary  for  the  middle  periods  of  the 
day.  Under  present  conditions  it  is  this  perhaps  that  will  deter- 
mine the  maximum  number  of  students  that  can  be  handled  with 
present  buildings  if  the  sessions  were  extended  two  or  three 
periods. 

If   the   school   city   will   add  teaching  equipment  so   as   to 


222 CHAPTER  XII. 

facilitate  the  work, — books,  magazines,  maps,  charts,  apparatus, 
etc., — it  will  often  be  possible  to  increase  the  size  of  classes  with- 
out detriment  to  the  work  or  without  adding-  to  the  burdens  of 
the  teachers ;  and  thus  gain  additional  rooms. 

While  various  adjustments. ought  to  be  made  in  the  immedi- 
ate present,  yet  it  remains  perfectly  obvious  that  the  time  has 
come  for  the  city  to  study  the  problems  of  housing  the  high 
schools  with  a  view  to  planning  the  construction  of  modern 
high  school  buildings  in  the  near  future.  The  problems  are  very 
numerous  and  complicated.  They  ought  therefore  to  be  dis- 
cussed very  fully  by  the  city  before  decision  is  made.  Any  sug- 
gestions made  here  are  merely  for  contributing  to  the  discussion ; 
we  have  not  the  facts  sufficient  for  making  definite  recommenda- 
tions. The  problems  may  be  indicated  by  a  series  of  questions. 

1.  Shall  there  be  one  very  large  central  high  school,  or 
shall  there  be  two  schools, — one  on  one  side  of  the  city,  and  the 
other  on  the  other?   The  size  and  importance  of  this  problem  be- 
comes evident  as  one  looks  to  the  future, — ten  and  twenty  years 
hence. 

2.  If  two  high  schools,  shall  they  be  of  similar  type,  each 
offering  a  full  round  of  opportunity  to  its  side  of  the  city? 
Or  shall  they  be  somewhat  specialized,  one  being  of  the  so- 
called  English-classical   type,   and  the   other  of  the   scientific- 
technical  type? 

3.  How  far  shall  the  uses  of  such  biuldings  as  civic  and 
social  centers  be  influential  in  determining  the  location  of  the 
buildings  ? 

4.  How  make  sure  that  the  grounds  are  selected  and  the 
buildings  designed  so  as  to  take  care  of  the  .full  round  of  educa- 
tional needs  of  the  youth  of  the  city, — vocational,  physical,  civic, 
social,  recreational,  etc.?     This  is  in  fact  the  central  problem. 
If  the  educational  experts  in  the  system  will  carefully  analyze 
out  all  of  the  educational  factors  entering  into  the  problem  and 
on  the  basis  of  such  scientific  information  will  formulate  well- 
rounded  constructive  plans  and  policy,  they  can  get  what  the 
city  needs.    If  they  have  nothing  to  present  but  wishes,  general 
impressions,  and  unsystematized  personal  opinions,  they  are  likely 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 223 

to  be  in  large  part  over-ridden  by  those  who  are  seeking  personal 
advantage. 

5.  How    prevent    the    sacrifice    of    educational    utility    in 
the  interest  of  building  symmetry  and  of  imposing  architectural 
proportions?    There  is  but  one  way, — general  intelligence  as  to 
educational  needs,  and  an  abundance  of  specific  intelligence  on  the 
part  of  the  school  people.    Art,  simplicity,  and  utility  thrive  well 
together  where  cultivated  intelligence  can  hold  sway. 

6.  Would  it  not  be  advisable  to  arrange  for  a  half  dozen 
intermediate   schools   scattered  judiciously  over  the   city,  each 
containing  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the 
ninth  grades ;  and  then  a  central  specialized  high  school  for  the 
final  years  of  training?     In  very  many  ways  this  plan  would 
be  a  distinct  improvement  over  the  usual  one.    Its  value  is  not  so 
evident  on  the  surface  at  the  present  moment ;  this  will  appear 
ten  and  twenty  years  hence  as  the  high  school  develops,  differ- 
entiates, and  becomes  a  people's  college. 


224 ._      _ CHAPTER  XIII. 

Chapter  XIII. 

BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT. 

The  city  has  a  considerable  building  program  immediately 
ahead  of  it.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  is  necessitating  quite 
a  number  of  additional  rooms  each  year.  The  passage  of  the 
recent  compulsory  enducation  law  also  will  bring  into  the  schools 
a  considerably  increased  number  of  children. 

The  present  high  school  plants  are  altogether  outgrown. 
In  a  short  time  one  or  two  new  high  school  buildings  will  be 
required. 

Building  Plans. 

One  of  the  most  serious  "building  problems  confronting  the 
board  at  present  relates  to  the  general  type  of  plan  of  building 
best  adapted  to  San  Antonio  conditions.  After  looking  over  the 
buildings  of  the  city,  it  appears  that  the  experience  of  the  past 
forty  years  of  school  house  construction,  has  gradually  evolved 
a  type  of  building  in  the  Crock'ett  School  which  points  clearly 
to  the. next  step  in  the  evolution  of  building  types. 

Buildings  must  be  adapted  to  climatic  conditions.  They 
should  look  primarily  to  those  climatic  conditions  that  are  the 
most  trying;  and  only  secondarily  to  those  less  so.  In  a  cold  cli- 
mate the  most  trying  conditions  are  the  rigors  of  the  winter. 
Buildings  must  therefore  be  adapted  primarily  to  the  demands  of 
winter  conditions.  They  can  then  be  made  to  serve  sufficiently 
well  for  the  relatively  few  weeks  of  hot  summer  weather. 

Since  they  are  built  for  winter  conditions,  it  is  desirable  to 
have  as  little  outside  exposed  surface  as  possible.  Especially  is  it 
desirable  that  there  be  only  enough  window  space  for  light. 
Since  windows  are  not  to  be  much  used  for  air,  they  may  best 
be  all  on  one  side  of  the  room.  The  familiar  square  type  of 
building  will  serve,  since  it  is  compact.  Rooms  are  expected  to 
be  kept  closed  nearly  all  of  the  time,  both  those  that  open  out 
of  doors  as  well  as  those  that  open  into  the  corridors.  Ventila- 
tion is  to  be  by  forced  draught,  and  the  lighting  is  to  be  unilateral. 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 225 

Most  of  the  books  on  school  buildings  treat  only  the  requirements 
of  buildings  in  a  cold  climate. 

In  a  Southern  climate  like  that  of  San  Antonio,  the  most 
trying-  conditions  are  not  those  of  the  short,  mild,  winter  but 
those  of  the  long  sultry  summer.  Buildings  must  therefore  be 
primarily  adapted  to  the  demands  of  the  trying  summer  condi- 
tions. They  can  then  be  made  to  serve  sufficiently  well  for  the 
relatively  few  weeks  of  cool  weather  and  the  relatively  few  days 
of  actually  cold  weather.  For  most  of  the  year  rooms  are  to  be 
kept  well  opened.  Ventilation  is  not  mainly  a  question  of  the  me- 
chanical delivery  of  thirty  cubic  feet  of  air  per  pupil  per  minute 
for  the  sake  of  atmospheric  purity.  It  is  mainly  a  question  of  get- 
ting all  the  air  that  is  moving  for  the  sake  of  coolness  and  physi- 
cal invigoration.  Rooms  cannot  well  be  placed  in  double  series 
along  a  central  corridor,  since  each  series  shuts  off  the  air  of 
the  other.  If  both  open  full  into  the  corridor  and  also  outside, 
so  that  air  currents  can  sweep  freely  through  the  building,  air 
conditions  can  be  made  entirely  satisfactory ;  but  the  problem 
of  noises  and  visual  interferences  then  enters  in.  The  Southern 
climate  does  not  demand  the  compact,  small  surface  building; 
quite  the  contrary,  it  demands  a  building  in  which  the  rooms 
open  out  upon  the  free  air  on  as  many  sides  and  as  fully  as 
possible,  consistent  with  other  necessary  conditions.  School 
building  theory  relating  to  general  plans,  as  written  in  our 
books  on  the  subject,  do  not  generally  relate  to  climatic  condi- 
tions like  those  of  San  Antonio. 

San  Antonio  must  be  studied  in  and  for  itself  in  determin- 
ing a  general  type  of  building  that  is  satisfactory  for  its  own 
peculiar  conditions.  In  considering  these  conditions,  there  are 
certain  climatic  factors  that  must  especially  be  kept  in  mind. 
These  are  :  (1)  Climatic  temperature;  (2)  direction  of  the 
wind;  (3)  velocity  of  the  wind;  (4)  the  relative  percentage  of 
days  of  sunshine;  (5)  the  direction  of  the  sunlight  through  the 
school  hours.  We  must  examine  each  of  these  as  they  apply  to 
the  building  situation  in  order  to  find  out  what  appears  to  be  a 
building  suited  to  the  climatic  conditions  of  San  Antonio. 


226 CHAPTER  XIII. 

Table  XV  shows  the  mean  hourly  temperature  for  each 
of  the  months  of  the  year  as  furnished  through  the  kindness  of 
the  San  Antonio  Weather  Bureau: 

Table  XV. 
Mean  Hourly  Temperature  in  San  Antonio. 

A.M.  P.M. 

9:0010:0011:0012:00     1:00    2:00    3:00    4:00 


January  

48 

51 

54 

56 

58 

61 

62 

65 

February 

49 

51 

54 

57 

58 

60 

63 

64 

March  

57 

62 

65 

68 

70 

72 

74 

75 

April 

64 

67 

70 

72 

74 

75 

77 

77 

May  - 

71 

74 

76 

78 

80 

82 

83 

83 

June  

.  .  78 

81 

84 

86 

89 

91 

92 

92 

July 

79 

81 

84 

87 

89 

90 

91 

Ql 

August  

80 

83 

86 

88 

89 

92 

93 

93 

September 

76 

79 

82 

85 

87 

88 

89 

89 

October  

66 

69 

72 

74 

76 

78 

79 

79 

November 

56 

60 

63 

65 

67 

70 

70 

70 

December 

49 

51 

54 

56 

58 

60 

61 

62 

Temperatures  for  the  entire  year  are  shown  because  of  the 
fact  that  with  the  introduction  of  summer  schools,  the  school 
is  becoming  a  twelve  months  affajr.  This  is  a  condition  that  is 
sure  to  increase  rather  than  diminish,  since  as  school  work  is 
made  active,  normalizing,  and  healthful,  the  school  is  as  good  a 
place  for  city  children  in  the  summer  as  anywhere  else ;  it  should 
be  better.  The  table  shows  that  the  school  should  be  as  open 
as  possible  for  at  least  eight  months  of  the  year.  It  shows  that 
the  weather  in  January,  the  coldest  month,  is  really  on  the  whole 
very  mild.  Evidently  biuldings  that  are  constructed  to  take  care 
of  the  trying  summer  conditions,  can  rather  easily  be  adapted 
to  the  conditions  of  so  mild  a  winter. 

The  temperature  of  winter  occasionally  goes  considerably 
below  the  mean  shown  in  the  table;  but  it  is  rare  that  it  goes 
below  freezing,  and  then  the  cold  is  of  sfrort  duration.  This  is 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 227 

shown  by  the  figures  of  the  weather  bureau  covering  the  ten 
year  period  from  1900  to  1910.  During  the  ten  years  there  were 
of  the  months  of  January  310  days.  On  one  day  out  of  the  310 
the  mean  daily  temperature  was  23  degrees.  On  one  other  day 
it  was  31  degrees.  These  are  the  only  two  days  in  the  ten  years 
when  the  mean  daily  January  temperature  of  San  Antonio  was 
below  freezing.  The  number  of  days  having  each  level  of  tem- 
perature is  shown  by  Table  XVI. 

Table  XVI. 

Number  of  January  days,  1900-1910,  at  each 
level  of  Mean  Daily  Temperature. 

Temperature  Number  of  Days. 

75  to  79  degrees 0 

70  to  74  degrees  22 

65  to  69  degrees 25 

60  to  64  degrees  47 

55  to  59  degrees  54 

50  to  54  degrees 70 

45  to  49  degrees  38 

40  to  44  degrees _ 26 

35  to  39  degrees  16 

34  degrees  3 

33  degrees  4 

32  degrees  3 

3 1   degrees  ; 1 

23  degrees 1 

The  table  shows  that  the  temperature  for  most  of  the  days 
was  between  forty  degrees  and  seventy-five  degrees ;  that  in  only 
a  relatively  small  percent  of  the  cases  did  the  temperature  drop 
down  below  forty  degrees.  While  the  colder  months  are  on  the 
whole  very  mild,  it  must  be  noted  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
warm  months  of  the  long  summer  are  sufficiently  sultry  during 
the  mid-day  and  afternoon.  If  we  take  seventy-five  degrees  as 


228 CHAPTER  XIII. 

the  point  at  which  the  heat  begins  to  become  oppressive  and 
physically  undesirable  unless  the  rooms  are  well  opened  and  the 
air  in  motion,  then  Table  XV  shows  that  for  45  percent  of  the 
school  hours  of  the  entire  year  the  heat  is  such  as  to  demand  the 
greatest  fulness  possible  of  open  air  conditions. 

The  figures  of  the  Weather  Bureau  show  clearly  that  build- 
ings in  San  Antonio  must  look  primarily  to  provision  against 
sultriness,  and  only  secondarily  to  provision  against  cold.  The 
almost  universal  remedy  for  sultriness  is  keeping  the  body  bathed 
in  moving' currents  of  air.  It  is  by  so  controlling  conditions  as 
to  keep  the  air  in  motion.  An  electric  fan  does  not  cool  the  air ; 
it  simply  sets  it  in  motion.  Electric  fans  for  the  purpose  at  the 
present  time  are  scarcely  practicable  for  schools.  Even  if  they 
were,  San  Antonio  does  not  need  them,  where  buildings  are  con- 
structed so  as  to  permit  the  free  passage  of  the  invigorating 
south-east  Gulf  breeze.  During  the  warm  months  of  summer 
this  breeze  is  very  constant.  The  records  of  the  Weather  Bureau 
show  that  from  April  to  October  the  prevailing  wind  is  from  the 
south-east  every  hour  in  the  day.  Only  at  rare  intervals  and  for 
very  short  periods  is  this  almost  absolute  uniformity  disturbed 
during  these  summer  months.  The  mean  velocity  of  the  wind  is 
shown  in  Table  XVII,  for  each  of  the  hours  of  the  school  day. 

Table  XVII. 
Mean  Hourly  Wind  Velocity. 


Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

Jun. 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

8:00 

A. 

M. 

7 

7 

7 

6 

6 

5 

5 

6 

9:00 

A. 

M. 

9 

9 

9 

8 

7 

6 

6 

6 

10:00 

A. 

M. 

10 

10 

9 

8 

8 

7 

7 

8 

11:00 

A. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

8 

8 

7 

8 

8 

12:00 

Noon 

11 

11 

10 

9 

8 

8 

8 

9 

1:00 

P. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

9 

9 

8 

8 

8 

2:00 

P. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

9 

9 

8 

9 

8 

3:00 

P. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

9 

9 

9 

9 

8 

4:00 

P. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

9 

9 

9 

9 

8 

5:00 

P. 

M. 

11 

11 

10 

10 

9 

9 

9 

8 

BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT  229 

This  table  shows  that  for  every  hour  of  every  sultry  day, 
ii  is  possible  to  have  an  invigorating  breeze  through  the  school 
rooms  if  only  they  are  constructed  so  as  to  permit  the  free  pas- 
sage of  the  air ;  and  if  the  arrangements  of  trees,  shrubbery,  and 
neighboring  buildings  are  such  as  not  to  obstruct  the  free  pas- 
sage of  the  air. 

Returning  now  to  the  topic  of  building  plans  it  is  felt  that 
the  recently  introduced  "square"  plan  of  building  does  not  suf- 
ficiently take  into  consideration  these  climatic  factors.  It  is 
an  imported  northern  building,  good  for  a  cold  climate  only. 
Not  enough  of  the  rooms  are  open  toward  the  south-east,  east, 
and  south.  But  even  when  open  toward  the  south-east,  this 
alone  is  not  sufficient.  Rooms  must  also  be  equally  open  on  the 
opposite  side.  Air  can  enter  only  in  so  far  as  there  is  provision 
for  its  exit  on  the  opposite  side.  The  partial  provision  of  a  sin- 
gle transom  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  is  insufficient  for 
two  reasons.  It  is  not  large  enough.  It  is  placed  so  high  above 
the  pupils'  heads  that  they  must  sit  in  still  air  while  the  currents 
pass  over  their  heads  from  window  to  transom,  or  from  transom 
to  window,  according  to  the  location  of  the  rooms.  To  sit  near 
ar  electric  fan,  but  outside  of  the  current  will  not  cool  one  in 
the  slightest  degree.  One  must  sit  within  the  air-current.  It  is 
not  different  in  the  case  of  the  south-east  air  current  from  the 
Gulf.  The  pupils  during  the  hot  months  must  sit  in  the  currents 
111  order  to  secure  any  of  the  physically  beneficent  cooling  effects. 
The  air  should  pass  level  across  the  room  where  the  pupil  sits. 
However  sufficient  unilateral  windows  may  be  in  a  cold  climate 
where  lighting  is  the  only  window  problem,  it  cannot  possibly 
be  sufficient  in  a  city  located  like  San  Antonio.  Here  rooms 
must  be  open  on  two  sides  at  least,  on  the  level  of  the  pupils. 
This  does  not  necessarily  mean  bilateral  lighting.  It  is  possible 
to  construct  rooms  so  that  they  can  be  open  on  both  sides  but 
shaded  on  one  side,  thus  adapting  them  for  both  light  and  air. 

If  in  a  building  of  the  recent  type  the  corridor  walls  were 

open  on  the  levels  of  the  pupils'  desks  so  that  the  breezes  from  the 

south-east  could  sweep  through  and  bathe  the  pupils  continuously 

^.where  they  sit,  both  the  lighting  and  air  problems  would  be 


230 CHAPTER  XIIL 

taken  care  of  in  the  case  of  those  biuldings  where  the  windows 
face  east  and  west.  Although  the  rooms  would  be  open  on  both 
sides,  they  would  be  lighted  on  but  one.  A  little  observation 
of  such  a  building  as  now  constructed,  will  show  that  such  a  plan 
would  not  be  practicable.  With  class-room  doors  open  into  the 
corridors  and  the  work  of  the  various  rooms  in  full  blast  it  can 
be  noted  at  present  that  the  corridors  are  resonators  and  that 
the  sounds  from  any  part  of  the  building  penetrate  to  every  class- 
room. Were  corridor  walls  further  opened,  the  interferences 
of  sounds  would  be  aggravated  and  the  work  of  the  class-rooms 
too  much  disturbed.  Classes  moreover,  in  opposite  rooms  would 
be  visible  to  each  other.  Such  auditory  and  visual  distractions 
tc  attention  are  highly  undesirable.  As  school  rooms  are  made 
to  open  on  both  sides  they  must  not  be  made  to  open  into  each 
other.  It  certainly  appears  that  the  square  type  of  building 
recently  introduced  into  San  Antonio  cannot  be  made  to  take 
care  of  the  air  needs  without  introducing  other  very  undesirable 
features. 

Another  of  these  indesirable  features  inherent  in  the  present 
type  of  building  is  the  direction  of  the  lighting.  South  lighting 
as  in  the  New  Beacon  Hill  School  or  the  Douglass  School  is 
scarcely  permissible.  If  during  the  hot  months  one  shuts  off 
the  glare  by  means  of  translucent  blinds,  one  gets  the  light  but 
the  air  is  shut  off.  If  awnings  or  Venetian  blinds  are  used  so 
as  to  permit  the  entrance  of  air,  then  the  light  is  shut  off.  It 
is  scracely  possible  to  manage  the  windows  facing  the  south 
so  as  to  make  them  fully  available  for  both  light  and  air. 

Because  of  the  great  amount  of  sunshine  in  San  Antonio 
and  the  general  clearness  of  the  skies,  windows  receiving  north 
light  can  always  be  full  open  without  ever  permitting  the  glare 
of  direct  sunshine.  Such  windows  can  be  used  equally  for  light 
and  air.  Owing  to  the  outer  brilliance  of  Texas  light  most  of 
the  year,  the  objections  to  north  lighting  mentioned  in  the  books 
that  are  reasonably  valid  for  northern  cities  do  not  hold  for 
San  Antonio.  By  employing  a  large  window  surface  as  is  now 
used  in  the  new  type  of  building,  the  north  light  will  be  suffi- 
cient even  for  the  relatively  short  periods  of  cloudy  weather. 


1 U  i  I 1.DINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 231 

East  lighting  is  not  good  for  this  city.  San  Antonio  lies  so 
far  west  of  the  meridian  that  the  sun  finds  itself  about  forty 
minutes  behind  the  clock.  Since  the  schools  open  at  the  usual 
hour,  this  means  that  they  open  very  early  as  judged  by  the 
sun's  position — the  equivalent  of  opening  at  8:20  in  St.  Louis, 
or  7:40  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  In  other  words,  San  Antonio 
schools  have  a  very  great  amount  of  morning  sunlight.  In  the 
warmer  months,  the  rooms  should  be  well  open.  If  they  face  the 
east,  the  difficulty  is  like  that  of  facing  the  south.  It  is  practi- 
cally impossible  to  provide  equally  well  for  both  light  and  air. 

West  lighting  is  good  just  because  of  the  fact  that  the  sun 
runs  so  far  behind  the  clock.  This  means  that  on  the  basis  of 
the  sun's  position  the  schools  close  very  early.  Windows  open 
to  the  west  can  be  open  full  almost  all  of  the  school  day  for 
both  light  and  air.  If  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  sun 
sometimes  troubles,  it  is  more  easily  managed  than  in  the  case 
of  the  east  windows  because  of  the  schools  closing  while  the  sun 
is  yet  high. 

Just  as  it  is  evident  from  wind  conditions  that  the.  rooms 
should  be  opened  toward  the  east,  the  south-east  and  the  south, 
so  looking  at  the  matter  from  lighting  conditions  it  is  equally 
clear  that  rooms  should  be  open  toward  the  north-west,  the 
west,  and  the  north.  The  side  best  for  light  entrance  is  worth- 
less for  air  entrance;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  side  best  for 
the  inlet  of  air  is  poorest  for  the  entrance  of  the  light.  Since 
air  conditions,  however,  make  it  imperative  that  rooms  shall  be 
opened  upon  two  sides  these  double  demands  for  the  light  and 
the  air  create  no  difficulty.  The  solution  is  to  have  the  rooms 
open  on  the  north-west  for  the  light,  and  upon  the  south-east  for 
the  air,  but  shaded  upon  the  south-east  side. 

If  climatic  conditions  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in 
the  ways  here  mentioned  in  the  construction  of  school  buildings, 
then  it  is  possible  to  point  out  two  types  of  buildings  that  will 
apparently  satisfy  the  demand.  In  a  type  that  most  perfectly 
meets  climatic  demands,  each  story  of  the  building  consists  of 
a  single  series  of  rooms.  These  rooms  open  full  toward  the 
north-west  for  light.  They  open  full  toward  the  south-east  into 


232 CHAPTER  XIII. 

a  corridor  which  runs  along  the  entire  south-east  side  of  the 
building  so  as  to  shade  the  south-east  opening  of  all  of  the  class- 
rooms without  interfering  with  the  currents  of  air.  The 
windows  of  the  outer  walls  of  the  corridor  are  as  large  as  the 
windows  for  lighting  purposes  to  the  north  or  west.  Since  these 
corridor  windows  are  chiefly  for  air  and  not  light,  they  may 
be  partially  closed  during  the  colder  months  of  winter,  with  solid 
panels  which  can  really  have  all  the  solidity  and  offer  all  the 
protection  of  permanent  structures,  but  which  are  removable 
for  summer  conditions.  If  such  large  openings  from  class-rooms 
into  the  corridors  tend  to  produce  noise-interference,  this  must 
be  looked  after  in  the  mode  of  designing  the  corridors ;  but  hav- 
ing the  outer  corridor  wails  open  during  the  summer  months, 
creates  corridor  conditions  that  are  not  greatly  different  from 
the  outside  gallery  conditions  of  many  of  the  present  schools. 

A  building  constructed  on  the  plan  described,  would  be 
long,  narrow,  and  straight.  Owing  to  the  way  that  San  Antonio 
is  laid  out,  it  would  be  difficult  to  place  upon  most  of  the  blocks 
such  a  long  building  facing  the  south-east.  A  more  practical 
type  of  building  plan  would  be  the  L-shaped  building  with  the 
opening  of  the  angle  toward  the  south-east,  and  with  the  corri- 
dors within  this  angle,  on  the  south  and  east  sides,  lighting 
being  from  the  north  and  west.  By  placing  the  angle  of  the 
building  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the  school  block  one  wing 
will  lie  east  and  the  other  south.  It  may  not  be  possible  to  give 
this  type  of  building  the  structural  proportions  of  the  superb 
Crockett  Building.  Still  almost  any  type  of  building  can  with 
care  be  made  architecturally  pleasing.  But  whether  this  be  so 
or  not,  the  physical  welfare  of  the  children  demands  that  utility 
shall  come  before  beauty,  but  in  case  either  must  be  sacrificed, 
it  is  architectural  beauty  rather  than  the  welfare  of  the  children 
that  should  suffer. 

As  one  examines  the  buildings  at  the  Milam,  the  Burnet,  or 
the  Crockett  schools,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  building  evolution 
of  the  city  has  recently  reached  this  L  type  of  building.  These 
buildings  show  that  the  city  in  carrying  out  the  building  evolu- 
tion begun  forty  years  ago,  needs  to  take  just  one  further  step 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 233 

in  the  way  of  the  general  plan  to  be  used ;  this  is  to  place  the  L- 
shaped  type  of  building  upon  a  block  so  ^that  the  full  air  open- 
ings to  all  the  rooms  shall  be  toward  the  south  and  east,  and 
so  that  all  of  the  light  openings  of  the  same  rooms  shall  be  to- 
ward the  north  and  west.  The  city  has  actually  evolved  out  of 
its  experience  the  type  of  building  here  described. 

Perhaps  we  should  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  buildings 
so  constructed  the  second-story  rooms  are  better  than  those 
of  the  first-story;  and  that,  leaving  aside  the  climb,after  they 
are  reached,  the  third-story  rooms  are  better  than  those  of  the 
second-story.  We  are  not  here  advocating  a  third-story.  We 
would  only  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  where  perfection  of 
conditions  is  not  attainable,  we  are  sometimes  confronted  with 
the  problem  of  choosing  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  San  Antonio  will 
sometime  probably  have  the  problem  of  choosing  between  an  un- 
desirable, enervating  sultriness,  and  a  somewhat  undesirable 
amount  of  stair-climbing.  While  neither  is  desirable,  it  must  be 
kept  in  mind  that  the  sultriness  continues  through  the  entire 
long  school  day ;  while  if  toilet  and  rest  rooms  are  properly 
placed,  the  day's  amount  of  stair-climbing  to  one  extra  story 
may  be  accomplished  in  an  extra  minute  or  two.  Naturally 
where  possible,  both  evils  will  be  avoided ;  but  when  confronted 
with  a  choice,  it  should  be  made  upon  a  basis  of  San  Antonio 
climatic  conditions. 

The  type  of  building  described  provides  in  the  simplest  way 
for  additions  to  the  building.  It  is  simply  extended  at  either 
end  with  a  minimum  of  expenditure  and  including  only  a  mini- 
mum of  extra  ground  space.  The  method  of  the  past,  of  scat- 
tering buildings  rather  generously  over  the  school  grounds  has 
resulted  in  a  diminution  of  play  space  at  a  time  when  the  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  pupils  was  increasing  the  need  of  such 
play  spaces.  Building  plans  should  provide  for  additions  with- 
out unnecessarily  disturbing  the  play  spaces. 

As  the  school  comes  to  be  more  and  more  used  for  com- 
munity gatherings,  community  music,  evening  entertainments, 
etc.,  the  advisability  of  providing  a  gathering  place  like  that 
upon  the  roof  of  the  Travis  Club  building  will  become  in- 


234 CHAPTER  XIII. 

creasingly  evident.  During  the  day,  such  roof  spaces  can  be 
used  for, folk-games,  ior  gymnastic  exercises,  for  both  directed 
and  free  play  of  certain  types,  for  the  lunch  room  period,  etc. 
While  cities  of  colder  climates  are  developing  the  indoor  school 
auditorium  and  general  meeting  place,  it  would  appear  that  San 
Antonio,  taking  into  consideration  climatic  differences,  will  pro- 
vide more  of  the  open-air  spaces. 

Heating  and  Ventilating. 

In  all  buildings  at  the  present  time,  except  the  Crockett  and 
those  finished  within  the  past  year,  heating  is  by  means  of  stoves, 
and  the  ventilation  by  means  of  the  windows.  Visits  to  more  than 
two  hundred  class-rooms  while  classes  were  in  session  showed 
no  noticeably  bad  ventilation.  The  stove  heat  was  sufficient  to 
break  the  chill  of  the  air.  The  windows  without  difficulty  pro- 
vided for  sufficient  change  of  air.  The  air  generally  felt  like 
"live  air"  rather  than  the  dry,  parched,  "dead  air"  so  common 
in  school  rooms  where  windows  are  kept  tightly  closed  and  the 
air  supplied  by  a  mechanical  ventilating  system.  The  rooms 
seemed  to  be  suffering  neither  from  dryness  of  the  air,  lack  of 
movement  of  the  air,  nor  undesirably  high  or  low  temperatures. 

Since  many  of  the  buildings  of  San  Antonio  must  continue 
to  use  this  mode  of  heating  and  ventilation,  it  is  perhaps  well 
to  state  here  that  for  a  city  so  located  it  will  be  very  difficult 
greatly  to  improve  upon  the  method.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
method  of  mechanical  ventilation  has  yet  been  invented  that  is 
so  good  as  window  ventilation  when  outside  temperatures  are  so 
mild  as  forty  degrees  or  above.  It  means  moving  air ;  it  means 
desirable  variation  in  the  room  temperature;  it  permits  "live 
air" ;  it  permits  sufficient  exit  of  foul  air ;  and  in  an  atmosphere 
like  that  of  Texas  it  sufficiently  provides  for  the  humidity  most 
of  the  time.  No  mechanical  system  can  do  more.  Where  a  me- 
chanical system  is  employed  in  San  Antonio,  it  can  safely  be 
asserted  that  there  ought  to  be  window  ventilation  also  for  almost 
every  day  in  the  year.  This  is  stated  in  spite  of  the  general  re- 
quirement that  windows  be  kept  strictly  closed  in  order  not  to 
derange  the  mechanical  ventilating  system.  This  is  in  fact  de- 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 235 

sirable  in  a  cold  climate  where  ventilation  must  depend  upon 
such  a  system.  Such  a  requirement  cannot  be  imposed  upon  the 
buildings  in  San  Antonio,  however,  except  for  a  relatively  few 
days  in  the  year.  The  nearest  approach  to  really  bad  ventila- 
tion observed,  was  in  a  recently-built  addition  in  which  had  been 
installed  a  stove  and  an  automatic  ventilating  system  with  the 
requirement  that  the  windows  be  kept  closed  in  order  not  to 
derange  the  ventilation.  Such  automatic  modes  of  ventilation 
which  must  depend  upon  gravity  for  the  circulation  are  satis- 
factory only  where  the  difference  in  temperature  between  out- 
side and  inside  is  very  great.  They  are  satisfactory  for  very 
cold  weather  in  the  north.  They  cannot  provide  satisfactory 
ventilation  for  a  mild  climate. 

The  chief  objections  to  heating  the  rooms  with  stoves  is 
the  interruption  caused  by  the  entrance  of  the  janitor  for  re- 
plenishing the  fire  occasionally ;  the  space  taken  up  by  the  stove, 
together  with  its  jacket;  the  disfigurement  of  the  room  produced 
by  this  extra  piece  of  furniture  with  its  appurtenances;  and  the 
uncleanliness.  There  are  also  certain  other  remediable  objec- 
tions. At  the  present  time  the  opening  into  the  stoves  very 
often  faces  the  seats  of  the  children,  so  that  either  the  jacket 
has  to  be  removed  every  time  the  fuel  is  replenished  and  then 
replaced,  or  the  open  side  of  the  jacket  is  left  facing  the  children 
a1  their  seats.  This  condition  can  be  remedied  merely  by  revers- 
ing the  direction  in  which  the  stove  faces.  When  this  is  done, 
the  open  side  of  the  jacket  can  always  be  turned  away  from  the 
seats  of  the  children  and  the  jacket  need  not  be  moved  in  order 
to  replenish  the  fire.  At  the  present  time,  also,  the  jackets  in 
general  are  unlined  so  that  the  children  who  sit  nearest  the 
stoves  are  often  unduly  warm.  The  jackets  should  by  all  means 
be  lined  with  asbestos.  If  then  they  were  fastened  to  the  floor 
during  that  part  of  the  year  when  the  stoves  must  be  left  stand- 
ing in  the  room,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  asbestos  might  not 
last  indefinitely.  All  stoves  should  be  removed  from  class- 
rooms during  those  portions  of  a  year  when  stoves  are  no  longer 
required.  This  removes  most  of  the  other  objections  to  the 
stoves  for  the  major  portion  of  the  year. 


236  _     CHAPTER  XIII. 

Each  room  should  be  supplied  with  a  reliable  thermometer. 
The  ones  now  found  are  generally  too  cheap  to  be  reliable.  One's 
feelings  constitute  a  better  guide  than  a  thermometer  that  reg- 
isters several  degrees  above  or  below  actual  temperature.  Care 
should  also  be  taken  in  the  placing  of  the  thermometer  in  the 
room,  so  that  it  will  provide  a  fair  indication  of  actual  room 
temperature.  In  one  case  a  thermometer  was  observed  fastened 
within  the  window  frame  with  cold  air  blowing  in  on  it  through 
the  chinks.  The  instrument  registered  a  temperature  fairly  low, 
when  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  room  was  too  warm. 

Lighting. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  newer  type  of  building  rep- 
resented by  the  Crockett  or  the  Highland  Park  building  certain 
aspects  of  the  lighting  problem  have  been  completely  solved. 
Lighting  is  now  unilateral,  the  light  entering  from  the  left. 
The  lighting  surface  is  large,  being  entirely  sufficient  in  every 
one  of  the  newer  rooms  examined.  The  tops  of  the  windows 
are  straight  and  extend  to  within  six  inches  of  the  ceiling,  thus 
permitting  the  light  to  carry  easily  to  the  farthest  row  of  desks 
in  the  room.  The  walls  are  tinted  to  harmonize  with  lighting 
needs.  In  these  mattters  the  most  modern  experience  has  been 
followed. 

The  orientation  of  the  buildings  seems  not  to  have  been 
so  carefully  studied.  In  the  Highland  Park,  the  Douglass,  and 
the  Beacon  Hill  schools,  for  example,  the  same  general  plans 
have  been  followed.  In  the  Highland  Park  school,  however, 
the  windows  face  east  and  west ;  while  in  the  case  of  the  other 
two,  the  windows  face  north  and  south.  The  buildings  named, 
are  placed  as  though  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference  which 
way  they  face;  yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  light  coming  from 
certain  directions  is  much  more  easily  controlled  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  glare  than  that  coming  from  other  directions.  It  is 
felt,  however,  that  for  San  Antonio  conditions,  the  lighting  prob- 
lem cannot  possibly  be  solved  satisfactorily  in  the  case  of  a  build- 
ing of  the  square  type,  such  as  these.  Rooms  must  of  necessity 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 237 

face  either  the  east  or  the  south,  hoty  directions  being  undesirable 
for  San  Antonio  conditions. 

Recommendations  as  to  lighting -have  already  been  made 
with  reference  to  future  buildings.  Certain  recommendations  are 
needed  in  the  case  of  the  buildings  now  in  use,  which  must  con- 
tinue to  be  used  for  many  years  to  come.  In  most  rooms,  the 
lighting  is,  or  by  means  of  certain  minor  adjustments,  can  be 
made  quite  satisfactory.  Here  and  there,  however,  certain  ad- 
justments by  way  of  improving  the  light  are  very  desirable. 
In  a  certain  very  few  cases  attention  is  more  than  merely  de- 
sirable. The  welfare  of  the  children  makes  attention  imperative. 

At  the  Bonham  School  for  example,  the  two  primary  rooms 
to  the  west  on  the  first  floor  of  the  main  building  are  examples 
of  highly  defective  lighting.  There  are  125  square  feet  of  window 
space  for  the  1.000  square  feet  of  floor  space.  This  ratio  is 
much  too  small  under  the  best  conditions ;  but  in  each  of  these 
rooms,  the  windows  to  the  side  have  two-thirds  of  the  light  cut 
off  by  the  recently  erected  additions  to  the  building.  '  At  the 
back  of  the  room,  fully  half  of  the  light  is  shut  off  by  the  wide 
second  floor  gallery,  by  the  trellis  and  vines,  and  by  the  foliage 
of  the  trees  in  the  back  yard.  The  intensity  of  the  light  in  these 
two  primary  rooms  is  certainly  less  than  a  quarter  of  what  it 
ought  to  be,  and  is  highly  prejudicial  to  the  eyes  of  all  the 
children  except  those  seated  near  certain  of  the  windows.  In 
time  these  rooms  may  probably  have  to  be  condemned  and  used 
as  store  rooms.  In  the  immediate  present,  however,  certain 
adjustments  should  be  made  by  way  of  doubling  or  trebling  the 
quantity  of  light  in  the  rooms.  This  can  be  done  by  painting 
the  walls  and  ceiling  pure  white ;  by  cutting  down  the  quantity 
of  black-board  space  in  the  rooms  so  as  to  have  less  black  wall ; 
by  clearing  away  all  vines  and  trellis  from  the  veranda,  and  paint- 
ing the  ceiling  and  posts  of  the  veranda  pure  white ;  by  raising 
the  tops  of  the  three  side  windows  to  the  ceiling  with  as  large 
transoms  as  possible,  and  by  trimming  some  of  the  trees  immedi- 
ately west  of  the  rooms.  Merely  to  have  open  windows  is  not 
enough  for  light.  There  must  be  freedom  from  obstruction  for 
both  direct  and  diffused  light;  and  where  difficulties  are  ex- 


238 CHAPTER  XIII. 

perienced,  the  walls  and  furniture  of  the  rooms  should  be  so 
cared  for  as  to  absorb  as  little  light  as  possible. 

The  Navarro  School  presents  still  worse  examples  of  the 
harmful  effect  upon  the  lighting  of  constructing  additions  with- 
out a  due  consideration  of  the  effect  of  these  additions  upon 
rooms  already  built.  Certain  rooms  in  the  Navarro  where  the 
window  area  is  already  too  small  relative  to  the  floor  area,  the 
windows  have  been  rendered  largely  or  wholly  ineffective  by  the 
luilding  of  wings  which  cut  off  large  portions  of  direct  and 
diffused  light  from  the  outside,  and  by  the  planting  or  the  contin- 
uance of  foliage  trees  where  they  shade  such  windows.  I  visited 
these  rooms  on  a  fairly  bright  afternoon,  and  found  certain  of 
them  so  dark  that  it  was  impossible  to  read  my  notes  in  certain 
portions  of  the  rooms  without  holding  them  up  so  as  to  get  a 
specially  favorable  light  from  the  windows.  In  certain  of  the 
rooms,  the  ratio  of  effective  window  space  to  floor  space  was  less 
tl  an  1  to  10.  Since  many  of  these  rooms  must  be  used  for  many 
years  to  come,  the  school  city  should  take  advantage  of  as  many 
ways  as  possible  of  relieving  the  situation  as  already  specified  in 
case  of  the  Bonham.  By  properly  controlling  the  various  factors 
that  enter  into  the  lighting  situation,  practically  every  room  in  all 
the  schools  can  be  lighted  sufficiently  for  immediate  purposes. 
In  practically  every  case  of  insufficient  lighting  as  in  the  primary 
rooms  at  No.  4  and  No.  5,  in  the  sewing  room  at -the  Brackenridge 
High  School,  in  the  study  room  at  the  Main  Avenue  High  School, 
in  the  central  second-story  room  at  school  No.  21,  etc.,  etc.,  by 
taking  the  matter  in  hand  in  ways  already  suggested,  a  suffi- 
cient amount  of  light  can  in  most  cases  be  provided  at  compara- 
tively little  expense.  It  appears  evident  that  the  lighting  factors 
have  never  been  properly  studied.  In  the  case  of  the  relatively 
few  rooms  where  the  lighting  is  questionable,  it  would  appear 
that  the  Board  ought  to  send  its  medical  examiner  and  an  ex- 
pert optician  to  make  careful  examination  in  the  light  of  well- 
accepted  standards  of  lighting,  and  to  report  conditions  to  the 
board.  Were  this  done,  inexcusable  conditions  now  existing 
could  not  well  continue. 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 

In  considering  increasing  the  intensity  of  the  light  in  any 
room  the  board  and  the  superintendent  of  buildings  and  grounds 
should  keep  in  mind  such  factors  as  the  following : 

(1)  The    possiblity    of    whitening    ceilings,    walls,    doors, 
door  and  window  trim,  space  covered  by  a  portion  of  the  black- 
board ;  and  of  using  lighter  colors  of  wood  in  desks,  furniture 

and  floors. 

(2)  The  possibility  of  raising  the  tops  of  the  windows, 
or   of   introducing   transoms    above   windows.       In    the   poorly 
lighted  rooms  often  there  is  abundant  space  above  the  windows. 
For  room  lighting,  the  top  part  of  the  window  is  worth  two  or 
three  times  as  much  as  the  lower  half  of  the  window. 

(3)  The  possibility  of  opening  double  windows  in  place 
of  the  single  ones.    A  slender  steel  mullion  can  easily  be  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  present  window  and  windows  opened  on 
either  side  of  it,  thus  doubling,  at  very  small  expense,  the  light- 
ing surface  of  the  window. 

(4)  The  whitening  of  surfaces  of  wings  of  buildings,  of 
verandas,  etc.,  so  that  they  may  aid  in  the  transmission  of  dif- 
fused light  from  the  outside. 

(5)  The  cutting  away  of  all  vines  and  shade  trees  or  por- 
tions of  such  trees  as  unduly  interfere  with  the  lighting  of  the 
windows.     It  is  possible  to  plant  trees,  shrubbery,  vines  in  such 
portions  of  the  school  yard  that  the  lighting  of  the  rooms  will 
not  be  unduly  interfered  with. 

(6)  The  use  of  translucent  curtains  for  breaking  the  glare 
from  transoms  and  high  small  windows,  the  glass  of  which  is 
now  often  painted  to  prevent  the  glare.    The  use  of  translucent 
curtains  would  permit  a  clear  light  on  cloudy  days  and  would 
shut  out  the  glare  without  shutting  out  the  light  on  bright  days. 

(7)  The   occasional   use   of   artificial   lighting   of  a   type 
that  is  steady  and  which  does  not  consume  the  oxygen  of  the 
rooms. 

We  have  thus  far  discussed  the  control  of  light  where  there 
was  a  deficiency.  Another  large  problem  discovered  everywhere 
in  the  schools  of  San  Antnio  was  how  to  control  the  light  when 
there  was  an  excess  of  direct  sunlight.  Most  rooms  secured  some 


240 CHAPTER  XIII. 

of  their  light  at  least  from  the  east,  south,  or  west  windows 
through  which  at  some  portion  of  the  day  the  direct  sunlight 
enters.  The  city  appears  to  be  trying  out  quite  a  variety  of 
blinds,  no  one  of  which  is  altogether  satisfactory  for  this  par- 
ticular problem.  When  the  dark  cloth  curtains  or  the  Venetian 
blinds  are  used  to  shut  out  the  direct  sunlight,  they  usually  shut 
out  the  diffused  light  as  well,  and  the  rooms  are  made  unduly 
dark.  The  rooms  are  then  compelled  to  secure  too  much  of  the 
light  from  the  back  or  the  wrong  side  of  the  room.  The  ques- 
tion is  how  to  have  the  light  without  the  glare.  The  best  solution 
thus  far  found  is  the  use  of  a  white  translucent  shade,  which 
gives  a  soft,  ground-glass  effect  when  lighted  by  the  direct 
sunshine  and  thus  affords  an  abundance  of  good  diffused  light 
without  permitting  the  glare.  When  the  direct  sunshine  does  not 
enter  or  upon  cloudy  days,  these  translucent  shades  can  be  thrown 
up  and  the  full  clear  diffused  light  from  ouside  permitted  to 
enter.  Such  translucent  shades  should  be  used  in  certain  rooms 
ifl  practically  all  buildings.  In  the  warmer  months  when  the 
windows  to  the  south  and  east  must  be  open  for  the  sake  of  the 
air  and  yet  protected  from  the  direct  sunlight,  it  is  possible  to 
use  the  translucent  shades  at  the  top  of  the  windows  and  the 
open  Venetian  blinds  for  the  bottom  half  of  the  windows ;  or  to 
use  awnings  protecting  only  the  lower  half. 

In  very  many  of  the  rooms  visited  improper  lighting  condi- 
tions were  found  because  of  a  lack  of  attention  to  the  blinds 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  pupils.  In  one  room  visited  where 
they  were  having  trouble  with  the  morning  sunlight  through 
the  east  windows,  a  student  was  sent  to  lower  the  east  blinds 
so  as  to  shut  out  the  glare.  He  also  lowered  the  blinds  from  the 
north  and  west  from  which  there  was  no  direct  sunlight.  These 
latter  blinds  should  have  been  opened  full  instead  of  being 
drawn  down.  The  result  was  that  the  room  was  unnecessarily 
darkened;  and  the  teacher  seemed  not  to  notice.  If  a  teacher 
knows  what  ought  to  be  done  in  the  regulation  of  the  blinds, 
it  requires  very  little  thought  or  care  to  keep  them  properly  regu- 
lated through  the  day.  It  is  a  task  that  should  be  given  over, 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 241 

however,  to  individual  pupils,  each  serving  a  limited  time,  as  a 
portion  of  their  training". 

Cloak  Rooms  and  Wardrobes. 

An  examination  of  the  book,  "Grade  School  Buildings", 
by  Wm.  C.  Bruce,  of  the  American  School  Board  Journal,  shows 
that  the  so-called  sanitary  wardrobe,  such  as  employed  in  the 
newer  buildings  in  San  Antonio,  is  not  much  used.  The  cloak- 
room is  almost  everywhere  considered  the  better  arrangement. 
It  is  a  little  more  expensive,  since  it  takes  up  a  little  more  space. 
It  is  generally  Considered  enough  better  to  warrant  the  cost. 

When  the  sanitary  ward-robes  are  used  they  ^certainly 
should  not  be  placed  at  the  teacher's  end  of  the  room,  as  in 
some  of  the  rooms  in  the  Highland  Park  Building  and  the  others 
of  the  same  type.  One  of  the  obstacles  to  rational  building  plans 
so  often  cropping  up  in  the  system  is  an  inordinate  love  of 
symmetry.  Symmetry  is  not  always  necessary  to  good  appear- 
ance; and  in  any  case,  the  welfare  of  the  work  of  the  school  is 
a  thing  of  greater  need  than  mere  building  symmetry. 

Furniture  and  Equipment. 

The  new  buildings  and  the  additions  are  being  equipped  in 
the  most  modern  way.  Only  the  most  improved  and  adjustable 
desks  are  being  purchased.  Black-boards  are  of  slate  and  pro- 
vided with  sanitary  mesh-protected  ledges.  The  manual  training 
rooms  are  being  equipped  with  the  very  best  quality  of  work 
benches,  and  with  a  full  assortment  of  tools  and  appliances.  The 
domestic  science  rooms  are  being  equally  well  equipped  with 
both  furnishings  and  utensils.  Every  school,  whether  domestic 
science  center  or  not,  is  amply  supplied  with  sewing  machines. 
The  toilet  fixtures  that  are  recently  being  installed  are  thoroughly 
modern  and  sanitary. 

Furniture  and  equipment  for  the  schools  have  already  been 
pretty  thoroughly  studied  by  those  in  charge.  There  are  a  few 
things,  however,  that  ought  to  be  mentioned. 


242 CHAPTER  XIII. 

Buildings  should  be  supplied  with  telephones.  The  schools 
need  daily  communication  with  the  school  board  office,  with  the 
school  physician,  with  officers  of  parents'  or  other  associa- 
tions co-operating  with  the  work  of  the  schools,  etc.  The  fact 
that  principals,  teachers,  and  janitors,  are  all  putting  in  tele- 
phones and  paying  for  them  at  their  own  expense  is  clear  proof 
that  the  need  exists.  Such  telephones  need  not  be  listed  in  the 
city  directory. 

The  recently-constructed  schools  are  well  supplied  with 
superior  types  of  automatic  drinking  fountains,  both  within 
the  buildings  and  in  the  school  yards ;  and  they  are  also  supplied 
with  a  fairly  generous  number  of  standing  wash  basins.  Many 
of  the  schools,  however,  are  in  need  of  the  lavatory  facilities  and 
improvements  of  the  improved  drinking  fountain  so  as  to  make 
them  sanitary.  These  are  matters  in  which  the  school  physician 
should  have  a  voice. 

At  a  number  of  the  buildings  in  primary  rooms  permanent 
lines  have  been  drawn  upon  the  black-board  with  either  white 
or  green  paint.  This  is  an  excellent  device  which  ought  to  be 
extended  to  all  buildings.  Lines  should  not  be  so  far  apart  as 
in  certain  buildings  observed,  nor  so  near  together  as  in  one 
of  the  buildings  observed.  The  green  line  is  much  better 
for  the  purpose  than  the  white  line,  since  the  white  lines  do  not 
clearly  distinguish  themselves  from  the  white  lines  of  the  chalk. 
The  lines  are  only  to  be  seen  during  the  writing.  They  are  not 
to  be  easily  visible  to  the  class  reading  the  work.  The  green 
lines  will  be  found  to  be  unobtrusive.  In  the  high  school,  in 
rooms  where  mathematics  is  taught  or  where  graphical  work  of 
any  sort  is  done,  as  for  example,  in  classes  of  physics  or  civics, 
cross  section  lines,  preferably  in  green,  should  be  permanently 
placed  upon  the  black-board.  They  will  be  found  useful  in 
a.  variety  of  ways,  and  are  great  time  savers  for  certain  types 
of  work. 

Reference  needs  to  be  made  to  the  placing  of  black-boards. 
Cases  were  found  where  the  boards  ~in  the  primary  rooms  were 
too  high  for  the  pupils'  convenient  use,  and  in  upper  grade  rooms, 
where  the  boards  were  placed  too  low  for  proper  use.  Judging 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 243 

from  current  practice,  it  would  appear  that  black-boards  in  the 
first  two  primary  rooms  should  be  placed  about  twenty-six  inches 
from  the  floor ;  in  the  third  and  fourth  grade  rooms,  about 
twenty-eight  inches  from  the  floor ;  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  grade 
rooms,  thirty  inches  from  the  floor ;  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grade  rooms,  thirty-two  inches -from  the  floor;  and  in  the  high 
school  grades,  about  thirty-six  inches  from  the  floor.  The  width 
of  the  board  should  be  adapted  to  the  uses  to  which  it  is  to  be  put. 
The  front  board  that  must  be  used  by  both  pupils  and  teacher 
should  be  fairly  wide,  extending  upward  as  high  as  it  is  con- 
venient to  use  a  board.  Other  black-boards  in  the  room,  how- 
ever, should  not  be  wider  than  the  pupils'  use  demands.  For 
the  lower  grades  they  need  not  be  more  than  thirty  inches  wide, 
for  the  grammar  grades  thirty-six,  and  for  the  high  school, 
forty-two.  There  should  not  be  more  black-board  space  than  is 
actually  needed  for  the  work  because  of  its  absorption  of  light. 
Many  San  Antonio  rooms  appear  to  be  over-supplied  with  black- 
board space. 

The  Buildings  as  an  Educational  Influence  and  Opportunity. 

Where  children  spend  their  days,  month  after  month  and 
year  after  year,  in  a  building  such  as  the  Crockett  with  its  im- 
posing lines  within  and  without,  its  spacious  and  tastefully  ap- 
pointed rooms  and  corridors,  its  sanitary  accommodations,  etc., 
a  higher  appreciation  of  housing  conditions  unconsciously  and 
without  effort  grows  up  in  the  pupils.  Without  knowing  why 
they  tend  to  become  more  impatient  than  they  would  otherwise 
be  of  disorder  in  housing  arrangements,  of  cluttered-up  rooms 
and  corridors,  of  uncleanliness,  of  unsightly  color  schemes,  of 
darkened  rooms,  of  insanitariness,  etc.  No  part  of  their  educa- 
tion that  they  get  from  books  is  any  more  important  or  more 
far-reaching  than  this.  From  the  first  grade  to  the  end  of  the 
high  school,  they  are  being  taught  literature,  and  music,  and 
drawing,  the  purpose  in  large  degree  being  the  development  of 
aesthetic  appreciation.  These  studies  can  be  no  more  influential 
probably  than  attractive  and  pleasing  buildings  and  grounds, 


244 .          ^ CHAPTER  XIII. 

in  the  actual  midst  of  which  they  must  spend  their  formative 
years.  ^' 

If  on  the  other  hand,  the  pupils  must  spend  their  days,  month 
after  month,  and  year  after  year,  in  class-rooms  in  which  every 
aesthetic  line  is  broken  by  the  arrangements ;  the  furniture,  the 
so-called  sanitary  ward-robes,  undesirable  color  schemes, 
mouldings  of  black-boards  and  window  panes  dashed  with  the 
wall  tint,  broken  plaster,  new  black-boards  superposed  over  old 
ones  with  the  old  ones  showing  out  at  the  botton  for  six  or  eight 
inches  in  most  unsightly  fashion,  black-boards  placed  in  the 
walls  as  patches  with  plastered  spaces  between,  etc.,  etc., — if 
every  law  of  good  taste  is  broken  by  the  arrangements  and 
appointments  of  the  room,  the  education  is  no  less  effective 
than  in  the  former  case.  It  is,  however,  education  to  slovenli- 
ness, to  contentment  with  ugly  and  even  insanitary  housing  con- 
ditions. Such  a  powerful  education  influence  as  one's  environ- 
ment can  not  be  counteracted  by  the  mere  dosing  of  students 
with  things  out  of  books.  The  conditions  under  which  one  lives, 
are  the  things  that  mostly  educate  one.  Book  work  can  only 
bo  supplementary. 

We  are  not  here  advocating  an  extravagant  outlay  of  money 
in  the  construction  of  new  buildings  and  the  condemning  of  old. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  buildings  now  in  use  must  be 
made  to  serve  for  many  years  to  come.  The  thing  we  are 
referring  to  is  the  making  the  best  of  the  old  buildings.  Most 
of  them  present  sufficient  dignity  from  the  outside.  Very  many 
of  the  school-rooms,  however,  need  to  be  studied  by  the  art 
department  as  part  of  their  applied  studies  in  household  decora- 
tion and  arrangement,  and  recommendations  made  for  improve- 
ments on  the  aesthetic  side, — matters  of  line,  and  form,  pro- 
portion, and  color.  Many  of  the  rooms  at  the  present  time  in- 
excusably ugly  are  not  so  because  of  any  present  building  neces- 
sity. They  are  simply  so  because  the  principles  of  household 
decoration  and  arrangement  have  not  yet  filtered  ^through  to 
them.  It  has  reached  the  newer  buildings,  because  experts  have 
been  set  to  work,  and  their  ideas  have  been  moulded  into  the 


BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT  245 

structures.  The  same  kind  of  ideas  need  to  reach  every  room  in 
the  old  buildings,  even  as  much  as  in  the  new. 

After  the  planning  is  done  by  students  and  teachers,  a  large 
portion  of  the  actual  work  should  be  done  by  these  same  students 
and  teachers,  by  way  of  putting  into  effect  things  that  have  been 
wrought  out  in  the  studies.  Character  is  shaped  chiefly  not 
through  thinking  alone  but  through  putting  into  effect  the  re- 
sults of  our  thinking.  The  shop  classes,  the  sewing  and  em- 
broidery classes,  students  of  mechanical  drawing,  those  engaged 
in  mattters  of  color  harmony,  painting,  stenciling,  decoration, 
need  for  educational  purposes  to  embody  their  ideas  into  perma- 
nent form.  They  need  to  do  the  work  for  educational  purposes. 
This  is  not  mentioned  here  merely  because  it  saves  money  to 
the  community.  It  ought  to  save  community  money,  will  not 
properly  be  done  unless  it  does ;  but  the  primary  purpose  of  put- 
ting the  work  as  largely  as  possible  into  the  hands  of  students 
and  teachers,  is  the  educational  one. 

In  my  notes  I  find  reference  to  scores  of  minor  matters  that 
need  attention  and  correction.  It  is  not  really  the  business,  how- 
ever, of  an  outsider  to  go  into  these  relatively  detailed  matters. 
Perhaps  I  have  done  so  to  too  large  an  extent  as  it  is.  The  central 
thing  to  be  recommended  here  is  that  the  school  city  get  its 
teachers  and  students  to  making  surveys  of  the  detailed  needs, 
drawing  up  detailed  plans  as  to  how  each  specific  thing  is  to  be 
corrected,  and  finally  setting  the  various  manual  and  art  workers 
to  the  task  of  making  the  corrections  as  far  as  possible.  When 
this  is  done  it  is  felt  that  the  old  buildings  can  be  made  attractive 
and  sanitary  for  as  long  as  they  have  to  be  used. 


246 CHAPTER  XIV. 

Chapter  XIV. 

FINANCE. 

The  business  agent  is  using  the  thoroughly  modern  system 
of  financial  accounting  that  is  being  standardized  in  the  school 
accounting  offices  throughout  the  country.  '  No  attempt  was 
made  to  examine  the  accounts  in  detail.  So  far  as  my  informa- 
tion goes,  there  is  no  reason  to  call  them  into  question.  More- 
over, such  an  auditing  of  accounts  is  a  task  for  an  experienced 
expert  accountant. 

We  wish  to  call  attention  to  but  a  single  thing :  the  need  of 
having  standards  of  financial  .expenditure  based  upon  the  ex- 
perience of  similar!^  situated  cities  as  the  basis  of  judgment  in 
connection  with  each  item  of  expenditure. 

For  example,  how  much  should  a  city  spend  annually  for 
janitors  per  class-room?  A  reply  can  be  found  in  the  experience 
of  many  cities.  Table  17  shows  the  practice  in  19  southern 
cities.  A  medium  amount  is  $53.00  per  class-room.  San  Antonio 
expends  $71.00  per  class-room  per  year.  This  is  $16.00  per  room 
greater  than  required  in  Dallas;  $22.00  more  than  in  Fort 
Worth ;  twice  as  much  as  in  Atlanta,  etc. 


F I  NANCE 247 

Table  XVII. 
Annual  Cost  of  Janitors  per  School  Room. 

St.  Joseph  _ ! .$  105.00 

Kansas  City  1 96.00 

Memphis 91.00 

Oklahoma  City ', 71.00 

SAN  ANTONIO  ...  71.00 


Louisville _ 68.00 

Norfolk   „. _ : 63.00 

Houston _ 58.00 

Dallas  ...  55.00 


Birmingham 53.00 

Richmond 52.00 

Fort  Worth  _ _ 49.00 

New  Orleans _....„ „ 48.00 

Nashville  _ _ 43.00 

Atlanta _.    35.00 

Savannah _ 32.00 

Charleston „ 24.00 

Mobile  _ _ 24.00 

Jacksonville „ _ _ _  21.00 

Such  a  situation  does  not  prove  that  San  Antonio  is  spend- 
ing too  much.  Conditions  may  be  sufficiently  different;  or 
standards  in  the  quality  of  the  work  may  be  higher.  If  so, 
these  things  should  be  known  before  the  city  is  satisfied  with 
the  present  situation. 


248 CHAPTER  XIV. 

How  much  should  the  city  expend  for  instruction  supplies 
per  pupil?  Again  it  is  the  general  practice  of  cities  that  will 
serve  as  a  basis  of  judgment.  The  general  practice  of  cities  of 
the  same  population  as  San  Antonio  is  shown  in  Table  18. 

Table  XVIII. 
Cost  of  Supplies  for  Instruction,  per  Pupil. 


Springfield,  Mass .$  2.92 

Spokane  _ ...._ 1.81 

Grand  Rapids _ 1.74 

New  Bedford _ „ _ 1.48 

Houston _ 1.41 

Camden 1.25 

Trenton  , „ 1.11 

Hartford '. 1.04 

Cambridge „„ 91 

Dayton  .  75 

J 

Fall  River  74 

Albany  „ 70 

Omaha  70 

Dallas „.„ _ 47 

Lowell 43 

SAN  ANTONIO , 1... .31 

E r idgepo rt   „ 3 1 

Nashville  _ 25 

Fort  Worth  ...  .23 


FINANCE 249 

San  Antonio  is  expending  thirty-one  cents  per  pupil  while 
Houston  spends  $1.41,  or  four  and  one-half  times  as  mu'ch. 
Dallas  is  expending  fifty  percent  more.  San  Antonio  is  not 
doing  well  in  this  aspect  of  the  work.  As  we  have  tried  to  point 
out  in  the  report,  it  is  probably  vejy  false  economy  after  ex- 
pending so  much  to  try  to  economize  on  the  indispensable  things 
used  by  the  pupils. 

Often  it  is  anything  but  economy  for  the  parents.  Take,  for 
example,  the  matter  of  ink.  If  each  pupil  buys  a  bottle  per  term, 
ten  cents  per  year,  the  cost  to  the  parents  is  $1,000  a  year.  If 
the  school  city  purchased  ink  crystals  and  made  their  own  ink 
the  same  amount  of  ink  would  cost  about  $125.00  a  year, — and 
paid  ultimately  by  the  same  parents.  Besides  the  desks  would  not 
be  littered  up  with  ink  bottles  tied  on  their  tops  with  string  to 
keep  them  from  being  knocked  off,  with  perfectly  good  patent 
ink-wells  in  their  desks. 

We  referred  to  the  need  of  new  buildings  in  a  previous 
chapter.  Has  San  Antonio  been  spending  as  much  as  she  ought 
for  buildings?  Actual  expenditures  covering  many  cities  for,  let 
us  say,  the  past  thirty  years,  for  comparative  purposes  are  not  at 
hand.  The  figures  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  are  too 
incomplete.  We  have  an  index  of  past  expenditures  in  the  pres- 
ent valuation  of  buildings.  Table  19  shows  in  some  degree 
how  much  San  Antonio  has  been  exerting  herself  as  compared 
with  other  southern  cities.  She  is  far  behind  Dallas,  Houston, 
or  Fort  Worth.  When  one  considers  further  the  number  of 
buildings  that  have  been  given  to  the  city  by  Col.  Brackenridge, 
in  actual  effort  shown,  the  city  should  be  placed  very  much 
lower  on  the  list, — in  fact  pretty  near  the  bottom.  The  city 
should  remember  that  it  is  hard-headed  business  men  behind 
the  support  given  in  Houston,  Dallas,  Galveston,  El  Paso,  and 
Fort  Worth,  all  of  which  stand  high  on  the  list. 


250  CHAPTER  XIV. 

Table  XIX. 
Present  Valuation  of  Buildings,  per  Class-room. 

Newport - -  $  7675.12 

Oklahoma  City , - 6138.31 

Fort  Worth 5698.99 

Chattanooga  - 5495.03 

Austin _ 542 1 .3 1 

Memphis '. .'. 5415.61 

Little  Rock _ 5000.00 

El  Paso 4886.57 

Galveston „ „ - 4789.47 

Dallas _.... _ _ — — 4757.98 

Savannah 4695.74 

Charleston _ 3983.36 

Houston .' 3922.75 

Nashville \ -  3729.75 

Louisville 3657.17 

Covington  .% „ * 3653.33 

Richmond _ 3626.33 

Norfolk 2 3157.57 

SAN  ANTONIO 2997.48 

Augusta  _ _ ;. 2965.26 

Mobile  _ _ „ 2875.00 

New  Orleans 2747.88 

Portsmouth  .; 2738.88 

Tampa 1 2486,86 

Lexington  22 1 1 .76 

Jacksonville 1876.95 

Macon „ 1724.24 

Charlotte  ..  1090.68 


FINANCE . 251 

In  the  matter  of  current  operation  and  maintenance  of 
schools,  is  the  city  doing  its  duty?  Is  it  investing  in  public 
education  a  sufficient  amount  per  pupil  ?  Table  20  shows  that 
the  city,  as  compared  with  other  southern  cities  is  fairly  generous 
in  the  support  of  the  elementary  schools.  In  spending  thirty-one 
dollars  per  pupil,  the  city  stands  very  near  the  top  of  the  list. 

Table  XX. 
Cost  of  Elementary  Education,  per  Pupil. 

Kansas  City  - _ .$  35.00 

Memphis „ „ 35.00 

New  Orleans  .' „ 32.00 

Houston '. _....„ _ 32.00 

St.  Joseph  _ i , 32.00 

SAN  ANTONIO 31 .00 

Oklahoma  City 30.00 

Louisville   „  28.00 

Little  Rock „ ;.: _.. „ 28.00 

Nashville  _ 28.00 

Fort  Worth ..._ _ 27.00 

Birmingham  ,. 25.00 

Richmond  ........ _ _ 25.00 

Norfolk  24.00 

Atlanta : 21.00 

Mobile  , L. „ 20.00 

Charleston ...: 20.00 

Savannah „ 20.00 

Jacksonville   ....„ 16.00 


252 CHAPTER  XIVT 

How  is  it  in  the  case  of  the  high  schools?  The  figures 
given  in  Table  21  are  for  the  year  1912,  as  reported  in  the 
"Financial  Statistics  of  Cities,"  published  by  the  Census  Bureau. 
Relative  to  what  other  cities  are  doing,  San  Antonio  is  not 
doing  nearly  so  well  by  its  high  schools  as  it  is  by  its  elementary. 

Table  XXI. 
Cost  of  High  School,  per  Pupil. 

Oklahoma  City , $  108.00 

Charleston 91.00 

Kansas  City  - - -    84.00 

New  Orleans  ....„ ........~ 81 .00 

Louisville   ..., 79.00 

Jacksonville   _ - _  74.00 

Savannah .... - 7 1 .00 

Atlanta , - 71.00 

Memphis _ „. - 64.00 

St.  Joseph  , 61.00 

Fort  Worth „ „...._ _ 60.00 

Houston _ 56.00 

Richmond 55.00 

SAN  ANTONIO 53.00 


Birmingham  50.00 

Little  Rock 48.00 

Mobile  _ 46.00 

Nashville r j. , ,. 41.00 

Norfolk...  31.00 


FINANCE 253 

As  compared  with  cities  through  the  country  in  general 
of  the  same  population  class,  how  well  is  San  Antonio  doing  .by 
her  schools?  Table  22  is  of  the  type  that  can  be  used  with 
profit  by  the  city  when  considering  such  a  question.  The  stand- 
ing as  shown  in  the  table  may  be  justified ;  or  it  may  not  be. 
I:  needs  at  least  to  be  explained. 

Table  XXII. 
Cost  of  Elementary  Education,  per  Pupil. 

Spokane   $  44.00 

Salt  Lake 42.00 

Springfield,  Mass 41.00 

Grand  Rapids  40.00 

Camden   ^ 39.00 

Tacoma  38.00 

Albany  8  38.00 

Trenton  .. 37.00 

Hartford _ 37.00 

Lowell  ; ,.....„.., 37.00 

Fall  River 36.00 

Omaha  _ „ 35.00 

Dayton  _ _ 34.00 

Cambridge J. _ _ „ 33.00 

New  Bedford 33.00 

SAN  ANTONIO „ - 3 1 .00 

Nashville 28.00 

Reading,  Pa „ , „ 28.00 

Bridgeport,  Conn 24.00 


254  CHAPTER  XIV. 

In  explaining  the  relative  position  of  the  city  in  the  fore- 
going table,  one  thing  to  be  examined  into  is  the  size  of  the 
burden  of  taxation  that  is  being  bourne  by  the  city.  Are  the 
people  of  San  Antonio  heavily  taxed?  Table  23  shows  relative 
burden  per  capita  as  compared 'with  southern  cities;  and  Table 
24  shows  the  same  for  cities  in  general  of  the  same  population 
class. 

Table  XXIII. 
Total  Property  Tax  per  Capita,  all  Purposes. 

Oklahoma  City $  18.89 

Dallas _ ..:. 1... - 16.96 

Kansas  City _ ~ _ 16.51 

Houston  _...„ „ _ . - 16.10 

Richmond  _ ...- 15.94 

Louisville   ~ _ 14.77 

New  Orleans >._ _...._ _ 14.56 

Ft.  Worth 13.47 

SAN  ANTONIO _....:. _  13.34 

Norfolk _ 12.56 

Memphis  - •.-. 12.44 

St.  Joseph  ;... r „ ..._ _ _  1 1.59 

Atlanta .-.• :. 11.14 

Savannah Si ~ 10.61 

Nashville :. 10.00 

Jacksonville   ~ 9.41 

Charleston  „....._.......;.;. ;. „ 9.16 

Mobile  ......:„............; :. 6.49 

B  i rmingham ....„_.. .„ _ 5 .83 


FINANCE 255 

The  tables  show  that  the  city  is  neither  backward  nor  ad- 
vanced in  willingness  to  bear  a  heavy  tax  burden  per  capita, — 
but  simply  average,  neither  high  nor  low  on  the  scale.  When  one 
considers,  however,  the  large  proportion  of  propertyless  Mexi- 
cans who  make  up  the  population,  it  is  possible  that  those  actu- 
ally paying  the  taxes  should  be  ranked  higher  than  shown  in  these 
tables. 

Table  XXIV. 
Total  Property  Tax  per  Capita,  all  Purposes. 

Hartford  $  22.48 

Springfield,  Mass _ 21.33 

Cambridge   19.15 

Dallas   _ 16.96 

Omaha  16.39 

New  Bedford  .: 15.86 

Albany 15.75 

Bridgeport   - ~ 14.94 

Salt  Lake  City  13.38 

SAN  ANTONIO ! 13.34 

Grand  Rapids 13.14 

Fall  River  „ _ _..  13.05 

Dayton  _ 12.84 

Lowell   „ _ „ 12.68 

Spokane  12.28 

Trenton  „  10.21 

Nashville  ...:. „ „ 10.00 

Reading  8.30 

Camden  .  778 


256 CHAPTER  XIV. 

Is  the  city  able  to  distribute  the  building  outlays  needed  in 
the  near  future  by  further  bonded  debt?  Adding  the  recent 
bond  issues  to  the  previous  debt,  the  city  stands  relatively  about 
as  shown  in  Table  25.  The  total  city  debt  is  not  much  more 
than  half  that  of  Houston ;  considerably  above  that  of  Dallas ;  of 
medium  size  in  fact.  * 

Table  XXV. 
Total  (Net)  City  Debt,  per  Capita. 

Rank. 

1 .  New  Orleans  $  121 .00 

2.  Houston  , 97.23 

3.  Norfolk  93.66 

4.  Memphis    73.78 

5.  Charleston   _ 69.01 

6.  Richmond 68. 5  5 

7.  Oklahoma   „ 67.42 

8.  Fort  Worth ...„ 55.92 

9.  Mobile _ 53.57 

10.  SAN  ANTONIO  50.17 

11.  Nashville _ 49.55 

12.  Louisville  49.30 

13.  Savannah 42.94 

14.  Dallas  _ 42.88 

15.  Birmingham 36.61 

16.  Jacksonville - 32.04 

17.  Kansas  City,  Mo 31.32 

18.  Atlanta   29.12 

19.  St.  Joseph 27.98 


FINANCE 257 

Naturally,  with  so  limited  knowledge  of  the  financial  situa- 
tion, we  are  making  no  recommendations  in  connection  with  these 
things.  We  wish  only  to  point  to  the  need  of  objective  facts 
relative  to  current  practice  as  basis  of  thought  in  considering 
financial  problems.  We  have  presented  only  a  few  sample  illustra- 
tive tables  merely  to  show  what  might  be  done.  The  city  needs 
such  comparative  tables  in  connection  with  every  important 
aspect  of  financial  expenditures.  Where  a  city  is  investing 
over  half  a  million  dollars  annually  in  public  education,  the  size 
of  the  outlay  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  current  accumulation 
or  the  necessary  comparative  facts.  It  is  a  task  that  should  be 
carried  through  currently  under  the  direction  of  the  business 
agent,  the  assistant  superintendent,  and  the  head  of  the  high 
school  commercial  department. 


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